The Wooden Puppet
by Gracie-luu
Summary: "You cause me concern," Fury said plainly, sliding the folder closer. She read the information, an increasing look of alarm making its way onto her face. When she got to the last page she put the file down, closing it quickly. "Apparently, you aren't the only one I cause concern for. Does the government have files like this on everyone? Or am I just special?" Now: post-Avengers
1. Chapter 1

**Part One: The Wooden Puppet  
**

_-Chapter One-  
_

* * *

Director Nicholas Fury watched with mixed feelings of confusion and disappointment as yet another interrogator sped out of the borrowed interview room. This one, a middle-aged man who had been recruited for his tenure in Iraq and Afghanistan, looked even more spooked than the last. He avoided making eye contact with Fury, beyond the obligatory need to tell him that he wouldn't be able to continue with the woman, before he sped out of the viewing room entirely. He had the decency to look ashamed underneath his discomfort, although that did nothing to lessen Fury's feelings of anger.

He'd hoped the soldier would be able to make some sort of headway with the obstinate woman, girl more like, currently glaring at the two-sided glass. Apparently he had been wrong. It was a fact that didn't sit well with him.

Fury rolled his shoulders back and tucked her file under his arm and stepped into the obscenely bright room. She didn't look up, choosing instead to find a sudden fascination in her nubby fingernails. She picked at them, flicking dirt to the floor in a defiant way that made his eyelid twitch underneath his patch.

She was posturing, he knew that, and yet the action made him more annoyed than he should've been.

"What did you do?" Fury folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his one good eye at the young woman. She continued to avoid his gaze. When she said nothing in response, he asked her again, more bite in his voice the second time around. "I'm not in the business of asking people twice."

"And yet, you just did."

Fury's eyelid twitched again.

"You'll answer me when I ask you a question."

"I didn't do anything," She said after a moment, looking away from her hands to the air conditioning duct that ran along the length of the room. She gazed at the small ice crystals that formed on the vent a bit closer than was necessary before she finally turned to look at him. Her large amber eyes were filled with anger and fatigue, although he was pleased to see there was small amount of fear.

Fear was good. Fear produced answers.

"I think we both know you did something, so why don't you just cut the bullshit and call it a day."

"I hope you realize I'm not going to talk just because the room is cold." All the same, she rubbed her goose pimpled flesh discretely, pales hands moving along her skin before she stopped and tucked them into her cap sleeves. It was his intention to make her as uncomfortable as possible so he did not find it in himself to care that she was a bit chilly.

Fury sat down in the chair across from her casually, dropping the file he was holding on the table. Her eyes slid from his face down to the manila folder, widening when she read her name printed brazenly across the front in red letters.

It was always the red letters that caused them to panic.

"You cause me concern," Fury said plainly, sliding the folder closer. She seemed conflicted, fingers twitching, before she reached a shaking hand forward to snatch her file off the table. He watched her, waiting for her to process the information. When the look of alarm finally showed on her face, unmasked, unaltered, he thought he might be making progress. She looked pale in the fluorescent lighting of the room, sickly almost. It took her a few moments to get to the last page and, when she did, she put the file down and closed it.

"Apparently, you aren't the only one I cause concern for. Does the government have files like this on everyone? Or am I just special?"

"Special is one way of putting it."

"But it isn't the way you would put it?"

There was a defiance in her voice that Fury did not like. It didn't reach her eyes, however, and the veins in her forehead and along her neck were starting to show. The pale blue made her skin look almost translucent and he wondered how long it had been since she had spent any solid amount of time in the sun. He wasn't in the business of caring, however, so he took the folder back and tapped it so the papers were neat and orderly.

"No, no I wouldn't."

"How would you classify it?" She tilted her head to the side just enough to cause her hair to swing over her shoulder.

"Bothersome, at best. Problematic, at worst."

"Nick…"

"Director Fury would do," Fury corrected, noting the way her nose scrunched.

"I'm assuming it's problematic for you specifically."

"And for you," Fury said. "I don't think I need to tell you, you especially, what sort of trouble you're in."

"Enlighten me, Director Fury," She emphasized his title in a mocking manner. His eyes twitched again, worse than ever. She was going to be a problem, he could feel it.

"Miss Gudrun," Her mouth twisted at the use of her last name. "Now is not the time and place…"

"Santa Fe, you mean."

"Santa Fe." Fury didn't question why she knew where she was, despite the fact that she shouldn't even know what state she was in, let alone which city.

"A bit bleak, wouldn't you say?" She leaned forward on her elbows. Her eyes flashed in the intense light of the room with the movement. Fury wondered what it was about her that caused three of S.H.E.I.L.D.'s best interrogators to leave after only an hour or so in her presence, if there was something about looking her in the eye that caused them to panic. It wasn't her size, which was unimpressive at best, nor was it her voice, which was accented in a way that most would consider to be charming. He had to assume it was her eyes, although he didn't find them to be particularly intimidating or remarkable.

"Stop deflecting."

"You haven't asked me any real questions," She replied, sliding the folder back towards him. "Or told me anything I don't already know."

"I haven't told you anything at all," Fury said, ignoring the papers she was giving back to him.

"You haven't, but they did." She leaned back in her chair, appearing calm. Her muscles were tense, however, and he could see the way her hands gripped the sides of her chair like she was scared she was going to suddenly fall off.

"And what exactly did they tell you?" Fury hoped that he might be getting to the important part, the part he cared about.

"Everything."

"Why don't we start at the beginning then? Tell me what you know about the incident in New Mexico."


	2. Chapter 2

_-Chapter Two-_

* * *

"I passed a kidney stone yesterday."Avery looked up from digging through her wallet for her last wayward twenty, blinking rapidly. The saleswoman smiled brightly at her, entirely unaware of the inappropriateness of what she'd just said. She stared at Avery for a moment too long before she looked down at the pile of stuff on the counter. "I kept it. It was my third one this year." The woman, Dolores according to her nametag, began to bag up Avery's small pile of toiletries. "I think I might start a collection."

"That's," Avery paused, the twenty completely forgotten. "That's really nice."

Dolores smiled even brighter. "Thanks, sweetie."

Avery looked away from the woman pointedly, suddenly finding an intense interest in the convenience store instead. It was a smelly place, the kind that she generally liked to avoid. She had noticed, during her short time perusing the aisles, that it had a rather large selection of pickled foods, among other equally odd things. She imagined the smell was coming from the unfortunate combination of moldy carpets and the overwhelming stench of cat-lady wafting off Dolores, but in a town like this she couldn't be too sure.

"Cash or credit?"

Avery, who had been eyeing a rubber alien stapled to the wall with dissatisfaction, turned back to Dolores. "I'm sorry?"

"Cash or credit." Dolores had the nerve to look at Avery like she was the odd one.

"Cash." Avery handed over the crumpled up twenty, cringing when their hands accidentally touched.

"So, are you staying in town or just passing through?" Avery wished, rather suddenly, that she wasn't morally and socially obligated to engage in small talk. She found it to be rather useless and, more often than not, horribly uncomfortable. "I would hope you are just passing through. I've never cared for the tourists who come through here. All a bunch of nonbelieving ninny's, the lot of them." Avery rolled her eyes, extending her hand out for the change that Dolores had completely forgotten about. "You know, it's real. All of it. I've been probed. You can't make that sort of thing up, now can you?"

"I'm late for work, so if you could…"

"So you are sticking around, then?"

"Unfortunately."

"You'll have to come to one of our UFO watch parties. They're a real hoot."

"I can only imagine." Avery scratched her head awkwardly, wishing nothing more than to never speak to the woman again in her entire life. She hadn't been to a party that had been described as a _hoot _before and she had no plans of changing that anytime soon.

Dolores finally handed Avery her change with grubby hands that were stained from years of cigarette abuse. She noticed that her nails were covered in fluorescent pink nail polish, with a small green alien standing out prominently on each thumb nail. Avery couldn't exactly say she was surprised. She took her change and grabbed her plastic bag of stuff, hips already shifting so that she was turned towards the door.

"I'll see you around, sweetie."

Avery waved her hand flippantly and walked out without saying another word.

She left the small general store and started walking down the main street. She hoped the smell of cat hadn't rubbed off on her. It wouldn't bode well for her first day of work. They had already done her a favor by hiring her and she didn't need to go and offend the customers right off the bat. She glanced around her, trying to remember which direction the restaurant was in. It all looked the same to her. Nothing but small town kitsch that looked just as podunk as the last town she had found herself in.

This one came with the added uniqueness of alien décor. It didn't help. In fact, it made it so much worse she could hardly handle it. She walked in the direction that looked vaguely familiar to her, ignoring the eccentrically dressed locals all while knowing she was being rude but hardly caring. She didn't want them to think it would be acceptable to engage in small talk with her. It never turned out the way she wanted. People were always a bit too honest with her, a bit too forthcoming for her taste. She was tired of the whole spectacle of talking with people so she would just as soon avoid it.

It had gotten worse over the last three years to the point that she couldn't even remember the last conversation she had had that had lasted longer than 10 minutes. Her last day of classes, maybe, but even that was so far back she couldn't hardly remember.

She tried not to dwell in the patheticness of it all. This town was already zapping her energy enough as it was without her throwing herself a proper pity party of one.

Avery ducked her head and walked along in the blistering sun for what felt like hours before she finally arrived at the doors of the restaurant she was gainfully employed at as of three days ago.

It was just like every other place in the town; garishly decorated with aliens and overflowing with fanny-packed tourists of the overweight variety. The one redeeming feature, in her eyes, was the name. _The Restaurant at the End of the Universe _had caught her eye when she had first pulled into town four days ago. Douglas Adams had been one of her personal favorites growing up. The clever name only went so far, however. The inside was still painted with shoddy stars and cheesy little green men. Her stomach squirmed at the thought.

Money was money, she had to remind herself. She would have to keep reminding herself until she didn't feel so miserable.

"Avery!" Avery looked up, not having realized how long she must have been standing outside the double glass doors. Her new manager, a balding man named Wayne, seemed to have seen one too many kids puking on his restaurant's black and white linoleum floors to put up with her shenanigans. He held the door open for her, gesturing with a wave of his hairy arm for her to follow him inside. "Move your ass, girl! You're blocking the way for paying customers."

Avery did not dignify him with a response.

"You'll need to get changed into your uniform. Nancy, in the back, will show you how to do your hair. Come find me when you're done."

He left her standing in the middle of the crowded restaurant. She looked around for a moment, wondering for what felt like the hundredth time why she decided that the restaurant industry was the best choice for someone who liked to avoid people, before she finally maneuvered her way to the back to find Nancy.

Nancy was about as bland as they came. She was a plump woman who wore a bit too much makeup and drank a bit too much on the job. Avery thought she might combust if she stood too close to an open flame, but she kept that opinion to herself. Nancy smiled when she saw Avery. It was an awkward gesture that made the fat on her face pull up in odd ways. Avery realized, in that moment of judging Nancy, that she might have been alone for a bit too long. She had forgotten her lessons on polite human interaction.

"Oh, Sug you'll fill out that dress nicely." Nancy eyed her up and down. "Size seven I'd guess."

"How did you know?" Avery asked, forcing herself to make an effort with the smiling woman.

"I have enough lovers to know how to spot a seven when I see one." Avery coughed, and looked away.

"Don't worry. You aren't my type."

"I'm flattered."

"I think we'll be friends, me and you." Nancy smiled once again, reaching over to pat Avery on the shoulder. Avery could think of nothing to say besides laughing halfheartedly in response.

Nancy gave her a dress, a green atrocity with a too short hemline, and showed her how to pull her hair back into a tight ponytail before she sent her back to begin her first shift. Avery supposed Nancy wasn't so bad. Her honesty wasn't as alarming as others and there were worst things than being told you filled out a dress nicely. It usually started out like that though, which is why Avery was hesitant. People had secrets that they didn't mind sharing and they had secrets that were secrets for a reason.

Around her there seemed to be no distinction.

* * *

One shift and 45 dollars in tips later, Avery found herself sitting on the counter nursing her wounds with a small slice of pie. Working in the restaurant industry, even for a mere six hours, left her doubting that there was any decency left in humanity in the slightest.

"Seven, if you keep eating that pie you'll get fat." Avery looked up, annoyed that she wasn't allowed to eat her dessert in peace. Nancy seemed as chipper as ever, even going so far as to swipe some of the whipped cream from the side of Avery's plate. "There's some stragglers you need to take care of, at table six."

"Why me?" Avery asked, pulling her plate away from Nancy before she could take more of it.

"Because I don't want to."

Avery stared at her for a moment before she stood up and handed her half eaten piece of pie to Nancy, knowing there wouldn't be anything left when she got back. She wanted to get out of her scratchy dress as fast as possible so she didn't mind being the proverbial muscle for the restaurant, even if it was only her first day. She thought the dye in her dress was cheap enough to run when it came in contact with liquid, making her absolutely certain her back was now vaguely green from her sweat. The sooner she could get back home, a motel for the time being, the better in her book.

She pushed the open the swinging doors, trying to remember which table was six when she saw them. There were three, all dressed in clothes that suggested they had spent their time out in the desert. All of their plates were empty and a bit of change was sitting on the table, indicating they'd already paid. The youngest of the three was talking loudly about something that seemed to annoy the other two. They nodded politely, however, neither of them paying too much attention to what she said.

"I don't understand why you thought I would like this place, Darcy," The other brunette said, sounding very tired.

"I thought you might enjoy the alieny theme."

"It's not…"

"I understand they aren't all dreamboats, but they are from outer space so they have to get brownie points for trying."

"Blow-up aliens in a cheap roadside diner do not get brownie points."

"Well, they don't with that attitude."

"Darcy." The other brunette was worn out. Avery couldn't blame her if the other woman, Darcy, was always like that. "I just want to go back to…"

"Moping. You want to go back to moping. When Thor comes back he isn't going to like all that time you've been spending alone with Ben &amp; Jerry."

The third person, an older man, twiddled his thumbs in his lap and waited for the other two to stop bickering. He glanced around the restaurant, smiling at the theme. He passed over Avery and started to move on when he realized that she could hear everything they were saying. He elbowed the talkative one, causing her to look offended for a moment before she too saw Avery.

"Hi," She said loudly. "Nice dress."

"We're closing up."

"Not one for small talk, are you?" Avery took a few steps towards them, wishing that they would choose to get up and leave before she needed to say something more forceful. "Apparently not."

"Look, we need to shut off the lights."

"We're leaving," The tired looking brunette said, standing up.

"Do you serve alcohol? She's had a rough day," Darcy said, forcing the other one to sit back down with a rough yank.

"We do, but like I said…"

"Jane's alien boyfriend, Thor, this super hunky Asgardian alien dude, promised he'd come back and he hasn't been seen for months. We spent the entire day in the blazing hot sun looking for signs and found nothing. Zilch. Bupkiss," She paused when she saw the look she was getting from both her dinner companions and Avery. "Why did I just tell you that?" Avery shook her head, hoping that Darcy was crazy. Otherwise, the people in this town weren't as misguided as Avery originally thought.

"Darcy," The other woman, Jane, hissed angrily. "We're leaving. Ignore everything she just said. It's true, but ignore it."

The man looked at the two of them like they had suddenly spouted three heads. "Oh my god. Why…"

Avery wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to respond to them. In all of her life, in all of her twenty-two and a half years, never once had someone told her something so important, something so uncomfortably life-changing.

Apparently, aliens were real. She would call CNN and make millions if she weren't so freaked out.

"How are you doing this?"

The accusatory look on Jane's face alarmed Avery, causing her to immediately take a step back. "I didn't do anything."

"Yes, yes you did. I would never tell someone something like that." Jane seemed simultaneously angry and confused. "It's a…"

"I get it. Trust me, I get it. It's a secret. It's yours. Why don't you three just go and we'll forget this ever happened."

"No. How did you do that?" Jane seemed genuinely angry. Avery shook her head, hoping that Nancy, or even Wayne, would notice the commotion out front and come rescue her from having to explain. She didn't imagine they would. Wayne was probably counting money while Nancy was too busy having a love affair with a piece of pie. "Tell me what you did to make me and Darcy tell you that."

"I," Avery held her hands up in front of her. This was the exact sort of thing that made her wish to live her life away from people. They said uncomfortable things, kept dirty, alarming secrets. "I didn't do anything. I swear, not intentionally."

Jane didn't seem convinced.

"What are you?" She asked with conviction.

"I…"

"What are you?" She asked again, enunciating every single word.

Avery didn't know how to respond. No one had ever noticed it before. No one had ever asked about the odd amount of honesty that always seemed to be following her wherever she went. Jane was the first person to ever notice, and Avery found, now that she was confronted with explaining the anomaly that she was, she had no genuine way to answer her.

She stared at Jane for a moment longer before she turned around and sprinted towards the double doors, flinging off her checkered apron and ignoring their shouts as she went.


	3. Chapter 3

_-Chapter Three-_

* * *

"You spin a nice story, but I hope you don't honestly expect me to believe you." Avery picked at her cuticles, allowing herself to look offended for a moment before she gave up the charade entirely. "Now, the truth, if you don't mind."

"Look Nick…"

"Director Fury."

"I don't really think I'm going to tell you, so you might as well give up now before you waste any more of your time." Avery said very plainly.

Director Fury nodded his head, thinking something over. There was an awkward silence, during which Avery did her absolute best to look unfazed by the situation she found herself in. In general, and Avery tended to be a person who relished in generalities, interrogation rooms were not comfortable. This one seemed like it was ripped right of the screen of a cheesy buddy cop movie. She even thought she picked up the smell of stale coffee and outdated cleaner lingering. How unoriginal.

"Miss Gudrun, if you don't start cooperating things will go very badly for you, very quickly."

"Like things are going so well for me right now? Look, I have rights. You can't keep me here for no reason. It's unconstitutional, inhumane." Even as she said it it sounded flimsy and pathetic.

The only response Fury deemed appropriate was laughing at her. She failed to see what was so damn funny, causing her to shift uncomfortably in her seat. He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest as he continued laughing in a deep baritone that in other circumstances would seem pleasant. As it were, Avery thought he looked very much like a stereotypical super villain, eye-patch and all, laughing at her for even suggesting something so stupid.

"We aren't the U.S. government, Miss Gudrun. Our scope is a bit bigger than that, and we are a hell of a lot more resourceful."

"You don't have to laugh." Avery hated how much she sounded like a toddler. "It's not like I use flash cards to brush up on my secret agencies every night just in case it's a Jeopardy question."

"I was under the impression that you already knew. You said so yourself. 'They told me everything.' I believe it was."

"I'm not a mind reader. It doesn't work that way."

"Explain, then." Fury prompted. His face was devoid of expression despite having just effectively laughed at her stupidity. "Tell me how it works."

"Do I get to leave?" She asked, hoping he would say yes. With every moment that passed it became more and more clear that her usual stubbornness wasn't going to work. No matter how long she sat there, refusing to tell them anything, they could sit there longer. They had a bathroom after all, and she didn't. One could only be stubborn for so long before it switched towards being outright stupid. She thought it might be time for self-preservation above everything else. Even if the idea made her feel dirty to tell him anything at all. "If I tell you how it works, will you let me leave?"

"Depends on what you tell me."

"I guess I'll start when I turned seven then."

* * *

"_Avery Marie Gudrun!" _

_Seven year old Avery looked up from where she was currently melting plastic aliens on the steamy sidewalk. The blue one, the one she had dubbed Arthur, was already losing shape. His little fingers ran together in a small plastic puddle, sticking to the cement. She dropped the pink one next to the blue one, hoping that eventually they would melt together and create a blob of purplish plastic. She had lost track of how long she had been sitting outside in the blazing sun. Long enough to be missed, apparently. _

"_Avery! You stop ignoring me this instant!" Avery looked down at the little aliens and contemplated pretending she had spontaneously lost the ability to hear, before she lifted herself off the sidewalk and turned to look at the angry woman stomping towards her. Her teacher, Mrs. Hibley, did not look impressed. She marched over to her, fanning herself with her large hand and stopped in front of Avery, floral skirt flapping. "We have been looking for you for hours. We almost had to call your mother." _

_Mrs. Hibley said it as if it was a threat. _

"_Well?" She crossed her very large arms over her equally large chest. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Avery looked down at the little aliens again. "Oh, Avery. Why must we go through this every time?" Avery didn't have an answer. Mrs. Hibley reached down to grab her by the hand. She squirmed, hating the feeling of Mrs. Hibley's sweating hands on her own. It was the middle of September in southern New Mexico and impossibly hot. Avery could see the ever present moisture on her teacher's upper lip increasing with every extra moment they spent outside. "Timothy doesn't mean anything by what he says, Avery. He's just being a boy." _

_Avery did not have the guts to tell her teacher that she was wrong._

"_Honestly, its children like you that make me regret becoming a teacher. My husband, the lazy so-and-so, is emotionally needy enough." Mrs. Hibley didn't realize she had said anything wrong. Avery instantly removed her hand from her teacher's and took a few steps back before turning around and sprinting in the direction of her house on the other side of town, ignoring Mrs. Hibley's screaming._

* * *

"It started with touches?" Fury asked, opening up her file to take notes. He started scribbling things down, which caused her to peer over and see what he was writing down, which in turn caused him to move the papers back so she couldn't see.

"I guess. The boy, Timothy, had been pulling my hair so I reached a hand over to shove him, and he told me something pretty awful when I touched him." Avery said, feeling her discomfort level climbing.

"Elaborate."

"No." It was hard enough for Avery having to divulge something she had been guarding for so long to a man that apparently had never heard of wearing anything that didn't come in black leather. She was not willing to start spouting out all of the horrible things she had heard over the years as well. "He was a creepy little kid and he said creepy little kid things."

"So, when you touched them they started telling you the truth?" Fury asked, clearly unimpressed with her unwillingness to tell him everything.

"I thought that at first." Fury sighed at her unhelpful answer, to which she responded with a glare. "But, I was only seven so I was bit taken by the idea that I might have been a human lie detector."

"But you weren't, aren't."

"No. Not in the slightest."

"Miss Gudrun…"

"I'm getting there. Calm down."

* * *

"_Mom! It happened again today!" Avery dropped her backpack on the ground. She kicked off her worn out converse and started walking towards the kitchen, hearing the sound of her mom singing, like she always did when she was alone. The sounds of Starship, her mother's favorite band for some odd reason, played from the old radio in the crackly way that Avery was convinced her mother liked the sound of. We Built This City, a song that Avery was sure she would be able to recite in her sleep, was drowned out by her mother's obnoxiously loud singing. _

"_Mom!" _

"_What!" There was the sound of frantic steps, followed by a click that killed the music. Avery rolled her eyes, leaning against the wall as she waited for her mother to come bolting from the kitchen. "You aren't bleeding are you?" Her mother slid into the hallway, slipping on her mismatched socks. Her ratty t-shirt was covered in what appeared to be a very large amount of paint, and she was wearing her self-dubbed 'creativity pants'. She visibly relaxed when she saw Avery looking at her with a snarky look on her face. _

"_Why would I come home if I was bleeding?" Avery asked, walking towards her. _

"_Avie, you know better than to scream at me while I'm painting." Her mother, La, as she had apparently named herself when she was three, reached out a paint covered hand to Avery. "Now what was it you were on about?" _

"_It happened again today." _

"_It? Like _It_ It?" _

"_What else would I be referring to?" Avery moved past her mother into the brightly lit kitchen. She wished she hadn't. It was a true disaster zone. Open paint containers were on every flat surface available. A canvas that seemed to take up half of the room was perched on a rickety easel. Avery almost turned around to walk out when she was stopped by her mother's hands on her shoulders. She was certain she would have blue hand prints, but she decided to ignore that. _

"_We need a name for it." _

"_Like what? Avery's freakish talent? Or, what Avery always seems to be in the middle of uncomfortable situations? Or, even better, why is everybody so disturbed?" _

"_What happened?" Her mother opened the fridge as Avery perched herself carefully on the dirty paint stool. She was looking forward to when her mother moved on to a less messy way of expressing herself. Last month it had been interpretive dance. She hoped for something like didgeridoo lessons next time. Avery had already sat in enough paint buckets for a lifetime. _

"_Same old, same old." Avery took the cookie her mother was plying her with, shoving it into her mouth moodily. _

"_Avie." _

"_Cameron, you know that weird kid with glasses?" She held her hands up to her eyes and mimicked his glasses, making her mother smile a little bit. "He said he walked in on his mother having an affair with his uncle. I wasn't even touching him. We were sitting next to each other in the library and he just starts babbling about it." Her mother was unusually quiet. "It's never happened like that before. I've always had to touch people." _

"_I wouldn't worry about it, Avery." _

"_But mom, it's progressing!" Avery stood up from her seat. "What if it keeps getting worse?"_

* * *

"And your mother didn't have an answer?" Fury was writing things down in her file so fast he didn't bother to look up at her. "She had nothing to tell you about your odd powers?"

"No."

"How old were you?"

"Thirteen." Avery remembered, very suddenly, how much she had hated being thirteen. It was the worst year of her life, for more reasons than one. She dug her fingernails into her palms, forcing her attention to move away from the painful memories.

"Why did you suddenly not need to touch people?" Fury asked, gaze drifting down to her clenched hands.

"I don't know. It just happened. One day I was avoiding touching people like the plague and the next day it didn't really matter."

"Is that what happened to Jane Foster?"

"Excuse me?" Avery squeezed her hands even tighter.

"When you encountered the scientist Jane Foster in New Mexico did you use this power on her? You no longer need to touch people in order to get them to tell the truth. Is that what you did to Jane Foster?"

"First of all, I didn't _do_ anything to Jane. Second of all, I don't compel people to tell the truth." Avery said through gritted teeth. She glared at Director Fury with all the malice she could muster, but didn't seem to have any effect on him. "I already told you I wasn't a human lie detector."

"I am not playing games with you. I want answers, and I am no longer in the mood to wait."

"Were you ever in that mood in the first place?"

"Jane Foster, along with Darcy Lewis and Eric Selvig encountered you on the evening of January the 23rd, 10:30 p.m. They divulged top secret information that only a limited number of people are privileged enough to know. And yet, they told you without even knowing your name. Why is that?"

"I was in the middle of telling you the story. You don't have to get snappy."

"You're a very real threat, Miss Gudrun. Playing innocent will not help your case. Now you either start telling me the truth about yourself, or I will be forced to take more drastic measures." Director Fury closed the folder and threw it on the table. He tossed the pen on top of it with so much force the cap bounced off. Avery took that as a physical representation of his general attitude towards her.

"What sort of measures?"

"The kind that you could easily compel me to tell you."

"I suppose." Avery saw Director Fury's upper lip twitch slightly. "Maybe."

"Can you control it?" He finally asked after a long moment. His one uncovered eye was appraising her in the sort of manner that people usually did when they trusted you about as far as they could throw you. She thought he might be able to throw her farther than he trusted her, but that was hardly relevant. Avery pondered for a moment about how to answer him. She hardly felt comfortable telling him the truth, in whole, but she felt even less comfortable keeping information from him. He seemed like he had the means to carry through on his threats, violent or otherwise.

"More than I used to be able to." She finally said, fully hating herself for even talking about it.

"Were you controlling it when you encountered Jane Foster?"

"No. I didn't think I would have to." Avery felt like the lights were suddenly much brighter than before. "I am right now though."

"And why is that?"

"People tend to dislike me. Something about spilling their secrets involuntarily makes them a bit touchy."

"I can imagine." Director Fury leaned back, recrossing his arms over his chest. "Here's what is going to happen. You will tell no one what you conversed about with Miss Foster, you will not write it down, and you will not think about it from this point forward."

"You can't exactly control my thoughts."

"I can damn well try."

"Fine. Can I go?"

"No. I'm afraid that's no longer an option for you Miss Gudrun." Fury stood up, scooping up the folder to tuck under his arm as he went. "As much as it pains me to say, and I am sure I will regret not locking you up here and now far away from any and all human interaction, it appears your encounter with Miss Foster was your official application for employment."

"Excuse me?" Avery leaned back in her chair to get a better look at him.

"Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D."


	4. Chapter 4

_-Chapter Four-_

* * *

Avery rubbed her hands over her butt, feeling her annoyance growing with each passing second. She pushed her hips out towards the mirror for a moment longer before she let out a sigh and turned her gaze away from her own backside, fully dissatisfied with what she saw.

"Are you done?"

"I don't understand how these pants can make my ass look enormous and yet somehow flat all at the same time." Avery chanced a glance at her reflection once again, only to instantly regret it.

"Budget cuts. We aren't going in uniform, so you can stop worrying about your ass."

"You could have told me that before I got dressed." Avery snorted, reaching a hand down to pick up her equally unflattering S.H.I.E.L.D. issue jacket before she moved to her dresser to grab a change of clothes. He was wearing street clothes, ones that didn't make his posterior region look disgusting, she noticed, and had his bow and quiver strapped to his back. It was an odd contrast. She slipped into her bathroom and changed clothes quickly before she hurried back out. She threw her leather jacket on, waiting for Clint to tell her why he was there. It wasn't as if he came to visit her voluntarily. No one did. Once Fury had debriefed them on her abilities they tended to avoid her, even though she hadn't done anything to them personally. She didn't like to admit it, because it sounded desperate even in her mind, but she was really happy he was there. She had spent the last two months without much interaction and when Clint had showed up at her door telling her she had an assignment, she had practically jumped out of happiness.

"So…"

"Natasha is on assignment. Looks like I'm stuck with you."

"You're very charming, you know." Avery was used to the less than enthusiastic reaction she got from most of the agents that were forced to interact with her. The job tended to attract people with more secrets than hairs on their heads, and Avery, as much as she tried to control it, tended to make those people wary. Clint Barton was no exception, although he wasn't as bad as some. She had only spoken to him twice before this instance, so she was a bit unsure of why he was there. The only people she interacted with on a regular basis were her instructor, Dr. Fitz, and Fury when he thought to grace her with his presence and check up on her progress. "Why do you need me? Fury hasn't let me leave base for two months. Why now?"

Clint, who had been busy picking at some of the tchotchkes Avery had scattered around her quarters while she was changing, ignored her question. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Where are we going?" Avery's hands twitched as she tried to fight the urge to just force him to tell her. It would be easier, she knew that, but it wouldnt accomplish anything other than making him distrust her entirely. "I mean, I might need a thicker jacket or maybe some sunscreen if we're hitting up the tropics."

"We aren't going to the tropics."

"Damn. And here I thought you had finally realized your feelings for me and were whisking me away to some undisclosed romantic vacation."

"Gudrun." Clint put the slinky he had been holding back on her standard issue nightstand.

"You can call me Avery, you know." Avery swung open the door to her closet, searching around until she saw her favorite pair of worn in leather boots. She pointedly ignored the annoyed sigh Clint gave her when she sat on the ground to pull them onto her feet. She got the first one on before she realized that she had forgotten her socks. "Will you throw me a pair of socks?" Clint folded his arms over his chest, raising one of his eyebrows in an unimpressed manner. "Pretty please?"

He walked over to the single dresser she had and opened up the topmost drawer. "Why do you have so many pairs of underwear?"

"Why are you looking at my underwear?" Avery smirked over her shoulder, winking at him when she saw the look on his face. "Creep."

"Here." He tossed a pair of mismatched socks at her and closed the drawer before she could say anything else to him. "Now, let's go."

Avery shoved her feet into her socks and boots in hurried motion. She stood up and looked around her bleak room, thinking if there was anything else she needed. She didn't know where they were going so she felt a little bubble of anxiety, that might have actually been indigestion from the questionable tacos the night before, forming. This was the first time she was being let off base and she didn't exactly know what she was supposed to do. She forced herself to appear nonchalant about leaving, straightening her shoulders in a determined way as she walked to her door and walked out, leaving it open for Clint. When it took him a moment to follow her, she peeked back inside, smirking even wider at him despite her apprehension.

"We don't have all day, Clint."

"Shut up, Avery."

* * *

Avery leaned back into her seat, tapping her heels on the ground. Clint, who had chosen a seat as far away from her as possible, glanced up. She tapped her feet louder when she noticed his eyes trailing down to her boots. She was practically stomping them by the time he snapped at her to be quiet. She smirked over at him and tried not to take it personally when he didn't return the favor. He went back to ignoring her, which left Avery with no other options for entertaining herself. She wished that, for some odd reason, they weren't leaving base in the first place. She had been stuck in the training wing for two months and had imagined what it would be like when Fury finally sent her out on an assignment. Going to New York hadn't exactly crossed her mind.

Avery had only been to New York once. Her mother had taken them when Avery was ten to go a see a Broadway play. It had quickly backfired when the person sitting next to them had promptly confessed to double homicide during the intermission.

For some reason, New York had never had quite the same appeal for Avery since them.

"We'll be landing in 3 minutes, Sir." Clint stood up. He pulled off his bow and quiver and placed it in the seat he had just vacated. He noticed her watching him with narrowed eyes.

"We'll be blending in."

"Ah. I guess you would stand out with a giant bow strapped to your back." She stood up as well, shaking out her limbs. She felt idiotic for doing so, but she had seen the other agents doing that before sparring practice, so she thought it might be the appropriate thing to do. "Only losers like archery anyway."

His only response was a glare that she was certain he practiced in the mirror.

"I'm kidding, of course."

"There was an incident in New York approximately three days ago involving species unknown. A biological weapon was released in a high population area that led to the partial mutation of police officers and pedestrians in the area. A cure was administered and all negative side effects were reversed within a couple of hours under hospital supervision. Multiple onlookers reported sightings of a large lizard-like creature as well as a man dressed in a red and blue costume shooting webs out of his hands like a spider. S.H.I.E.L.D. has been monitoring the situation over the last couple of months, however, because of recent events, intervention is now necessary."

Avery was silent for a moment, taking in all the official sounding information for a moment before she finally spoke. "Wicked."

"What?"

"This is like a real assignment. Like for real. I thought Fury was sending us to stop a particularly rowdy bunch of hooligans from tagging a park bench or something. But, this is like real shit."

Clint blinked at her, seeming to try and decide how to respond to her words before he turned away from her, shaking his head. "Director Fury seemed to think it was time you got out and tested your..." He paused, bending down to pick up a small case. "Abilities."

"Oh." Avery instantly felt all her excitement, which had sprung up out of nowhere after Clint told her about their assignment, disappear entirely.

"Oh, what?" Clint seemed hesitant to ask her why she had suddenly switched from being excited to moody in a matter of seconds.

"I'm not going to use my, well, my powers."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to. Look last time I did, I got kidnapped by a super-secret agency and haven't been able to go home since. Well, you guys aren't actually that secret, but whatever. The answer is still no."

"That's the reason you're here."

"Really? I thought it was for devilish sense of humor and great smile."

"Fine. I'll just tell Fury that you're refusing to comply. You can go back to the hole for two more months if you want, or you can use your abilities to help S.H.I.E.L.D. and prove you worth all the money and time that's been spent training you so you don't end up spilling secrets that could get you, or someone else, killed, or worse. Now, are you going to stop acting like a child?"

"Maybe we do need to go to the tropics. You could really use some R &amp; R for all that stress and anger you have pent up." When he glared at her, she threw her hands up in a defeated way. "Okay, fine. But I can't guarantee that this will work out in the way you guys hope. I can't control it as good as I like to pretend and if things start to go badly there's no telling what will happen."

"Follow my lead and nothing bad should happen. There will be back up agents around the perimeter just in case things get out of hand."

The plane began to dip, causing Avery, who had very little experience with flying, to stumble. She immediately sat back in her seat, sticking her hands up underneath her legs. She could tell Clint was watching her warily, but she ignored him. As happy as she was to be getting away from base for a little while, she wasn't happy about the reason. She had known that eventually they would ask her to use her powers, but she kept thinking it would be later rather than sooner. Stress made them harder to control and, as a general rule of thumb, she liked to avoid situations that put unnecessary stress on her. There was a reason she had chosen the middle of the New Mexican desert. New York was filled with people and people meant stress and stress meant Avery got to know a lot more about them than she would like. She had tried to avoid using her powers after what had happened with Jane Foster for obvious reasons. Now that she was being asked to use them, and more troubling, keep them under control completely, she wasn't exactly sure what would happen.

Avery stared at the ground, trying to count her heartbeats, when the plane landed with a soft thud.

"You need to relax." Clint said, drawing her away from her counting.

"I'm fine."

"I've read the transcripts from your instructor. He noticed that when you were under a great amount of stress you have a harder time controlling it." She finally looked up at him, noticing that he didn't look as annoyed with her as he usually did. "If you feel like it's starting to get away from you, tell me. I've had a talk a few people down from the ledge a time or two."

Avery nodded slowly, not entirely sure if she believed him completely. She knew he meant it to sound like he had the situation under control, but she couldn't help but think he had no idea what he was dealing with when it came to her. She allowed him to have his delusions, however, and forced herself to put a smile on her face. "Let's go get that lizard."

"Oh, the lizard is dead. We're going after the spider."

* * *

"We look like pedophiles." Avery said, peering out from behind the bush at the school in front of them. Midtown Science High School looked about as normal as most high schools did. Avery considered herself to be an expert on the matter, considering how many she had attended. She looked over at Clint, expecting to see him responding in some way to her statement. He didn't. He simply kept his gaze on the high school. Avery watched him for a moment longer before she too turned her attention back to the virtually deserted school yard. "You know, I don't think many spiders enroll themselves in high school. I think they're more into things like spin class or weaving at the local community center."

No response.

"Get it? Spin class? Weaving? It's a spider joke."

"Be quiet, Avery."

Avery stuck her tongue out at him, but followed his instructions all the same. She wished he had picked a shadier spot. The sun was beating down on her, making her sweat underneath her leather jacket. She didn't dare take it off, considering Clint had forced her to wear a bullet proof vest over her shirt. While she was thankful that on the off chance they were going to be shot at she would have protection, she wasn't thankful for the heat it added. She was certain by the end of the day she would be stewing in her own stinky juices.

After three hours sitting outside the school, Avery gave up watching the doors. She sat down in the scrubby grass cross-legged, perfectly content with letting Clint keep watch. It certainly wasn't as fun or exciting as she had expected when she heard it involved humans of the possible lizard and spider variety to be. In fact, it was quite boring. Clint didn't seem to mind that time was moving at a glacial pace in the hot sun. Avery noticed enough for the both of them and reminded him as much as possible while they sat there.

"Maybe he isn't here. Maybe he broke one of his eight legs."

"Whoever told you you were funny lied to your face." Clint said, glancing over at her. "Of all the spider jokes, you had to go with something about eight legs."

"You didn't seem to understand my other ones so I thought I would dumb it down for you."

"That's very considerate of you."

Avery shifted her position, ignoring how moist her pants were. She was happy that Clint was finally seeming to warm up to her. People usually avoided her after they spilled their guts to her, not before, so the metaphorical shunning she had gotten during her time at S.H.I.E.L.D. had caught her a little off guard. She didn't mind, per say, but she couldn't deny that she liked it when people took the time to actually talk to her, even if it was forced by a certain eye-patch wearing director in this case.

"I know this is probably a stupid question…" Avery started, moving so that she could see the front entrance of the school again.

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid questioners."

"Regardless, we keep talking about spiders and I keep pretending to know what the hell we're talking about so I'll look cool or whatever, but something has been bothering me."

"And what would that be?"

"We aren't talking about an actual spider right?"

"No, we aren't."

"Good, because spiders scare the shit out of me." Avery confessed, wiping some of the sweat on her neck off with her equally sweaty hand. He laughed, which surprised Avery so much she jumped at the sound. She watched him for a moment, half expecting him to be faking, before she joined in in an uncomfortable way.

He looked back at the school, still chuckling to himself for a moment before he stood up suddenly. Avery, as slow on the uptake as ever, stood up as well, looking around to see what he had seen. He pulled the little box of from under his shirt and opened it quickly. Avery hadn't even noticed he had brought it with him, which was yet another reminder that S.H.I.E.L.D. might be placing a bit more faith in her spying abilities that they should have. The little box held what looked like a dart gun with a few almost lethal looking darts. Clint loaded the darts into the gun before he pushed his way out of the bushes and ran towards the school. Avery stood there, wondering what on earth was happening, before she decided she was probably meant to follow along after him.

That was easier said than done. Clint had about a foot on her height wise and was in substantially better shape. That didn't stop him from sprinting away, following along after a shape that Avery thought looked distinctly human.

Avery struggled to keep breathing as she sprinted after him, determined not to lose him. It was her first time out and about, after the whole Jane Foster incident, and she wasn't about to go screwing it up badly enough to get herself put back into isolation for yet another indefinite amount of time. Clint had chased the person beyond the school grounds and into an area that Avery would have avoided if the situation had been different. The amount of graffiti was enough to make her question the area altogether. She had just about lost them when she came upon Clint holding the person against a wall in a side alley. Avery skidded to a halt and walked over to them, thoroughly embarrassed about how heavily she was breathing.

"You could have told me there would be running involved." Avery wheezed, coming up to stand next to Clint and the unknown person.

"The target was getting away."

Avery looked over at said target, instantly wondering about Clint's ability to pick out questionable looking people in a crowd. Skinny teenage boys certainly didn't seem like the type to be involved with biological agents, dangerous or otherwise. He was tall and looked like he could each a sandwich or twenty and had messy brown hair that just barely brushed the tops of his glasses.

"He's a kid, Clint."

"His name is Peter Parker. In addition to being a high school student he likes to dress up in a costume and swing around New York on webs."

Avery, finally having enough of feeling like she was going to have a heat stroke, stripped off her leather jacket and tied it around her waist. "He's the spider?"

"Who are you?" The kid, Peter, asked. His words seemed slightly slurred, like they were hard for him to say. "What do you want?"

"Why is he talking like that?"

"He shot me with something." Peter said, indignation mixing with alarm.

"You shot him?" Avery turned to Clint. "He's like twelve."

"Seventeen, actually."

"I wouldn't have shot you if you would've listened to me when I told you to stop running." Clint said, ignoring the way Avery was looking at him. "But that's hardly relevant. I want to know how you got these abilities."

Avery wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. She had thought S.H.I.E.L.D. was a bit shady, but she had never thought they would be the kind to bully children. Apparently, she had been horribly misinformed during her time in isolation.

"Who are you?" Peter asked again, trying to get out of Clint's vice-like grip on his shoulder.

"We work for someone that's noticed you. You made quite a stir with the whole lizard incident, Parker. You've officially made it impossible to ignore you. Now, tell me where you got these abilities." Clint said, still holding Peter by the shoulder.

"No." Avery was afraid Peter was going to say that. She closed her eyes, hoping in a rather foolish way that Clint would just leave it at that. She knew he wouldn't, however.

"Avery, do it."

"I don't really thin…"

"Now."

Peter turned his gaze on Avery, fear written all over his face. He tried to scoot back from her when she stepped forward, but the large brick wall he was being held up against prevented him from doing so. She thought she might have been just as scared as he was. She didn't know what sort of things he was going to say. After all these years, people never failed to surprise and disappoint her with the secrets they carried. Seventeen year olds were no exception. "I'm Avery, by the way." Avery said as a way of stalling. "And I'm really sorry about this." She didn't exactly expect it to work the way Clint wanted. She had made it very clear that she didn't make people tell the truth. She wasn't sure why that was so hard for people to understand.

She closed her eyes, trying her best to stay in control as she touched his arm with the very tip of her pointer finger.

"I was bit by a spider and now I can do all sorts of things that should be impossible. It isn't contagious or anything like that."

Avery immediately removed her hand, forcing herself to pull back her abilities.

"What was that?" Peter asked, his face expressing the usual look of violation that most people sported after they realized what Avery had done. "How did you do that?"

"It's not as cool as being able to swing from webs." Avery stepped back, feeling very mean for having forced a kid to spill his secret. "But I guess it has its uses."

"I'll say. How does it work? Do you just touch people and they tell the truth or…"

"Okay, enough chitchat." Clint cut off their conversation before it could go any further. "I'll keep it simple, kid. You made a name for yourself with what happened three days ago. S.H.I.E.L.D. will be watching you from now on. You do anything, and I mean anything, that hints at being a threat we'll be back for you. Got it?"

"He means that in the least threatening way possible, of course. Because, threatening minors is never cool, right Clint?"

"We'll be in touch, Parker."

"Who are you? Actually, more importantly, who are they?" Peter pointed over his shoulder. Avery followed the line of his hand, not sure what she was expecting to see. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents surrounding the alley seemed like a bit of overkill, considering they were all pointing guns at Peter.

"They have a flair for dramatics, obviously." Avery said, shooting a dry look at Clint, who had finally decided to remove his hand from Peter's shoulder.

"Obviously."

"Alright, enough you two. Parker, stay out of trouble."

He stepped back from Peter and began to walk out of the alley. He waved his hand at the agents, watching them as they all slunk back off to wherever they had come from before he turned back to Avery. "Let's go."

"That's it?" Avery asked, surprised at how quickly they were leaving.

"That's it. He isn't a threat and we've made it clear that if he becomes one, he'll have us to answer to."

Avery tuned back to Peter, smiling at him when she saw how confused he looked. "It was great to meet you, Peter."

"Wait! Before you leave, I have a question."

"Shoot." Avery said, rolling her eyes when she saw the annoyed look on Clint's face at the delay. "The question of course, not webs."

"Funny. But really, how'd you find me?"

"We're able to find anyone. A kid dressing up like a spider is hardly a challenge for us." Clint answered before Avery could open her mouth to respond.

"If it makes you feel any better, they found me even when I wasn't dressing up and swinging around town."

"No, you were just busy stealing classified intel." Clint said sarcastically, sticking the small dart gun into the holster he had strapped underneath his jacket.

"Stealing is a really harsh word."

"Doesn't change the facts."

"Can I go?" Peter asked, cutting across their conversation before it could go any further.

"Yea. You can go." Clint waved his hand, shooting Avery a look out of the corner of his eyes.

"See you around, Spidey." Avery said, earning a scoff from both Clint and Peter.

"It's Spider-Man, actually." Peter said, kicking his skateboard up into his hand. Avery was impressed at his dexterity, considering he was still recovering from the dart. "And no offense, but I don't really hope to see either of you ever again." He threw his skateboard on the ground and ran along beside it before jumping on it and riding it out of the alley and out of their sights. Avery watched him leave, fully aware of Clint marching off in the direction they had come from and leaving her behind.

"Avery."

She turned on her heel, giving the deserted alley one last glance as she jogged to catch up with Clint. He led her back to where they had been dropped off by a car in front of the high school. It took them about ten minute to get back there, thanks in no small part to the amount of students milling about around the school grounds. Avery instantly felt anxious being around so many people and moved a little faster to catch up with Clint. He was walking with purposeful strides, ignoring the looks they were getting from some of the students. He opened the door to the car for Avery when they got back to it, slipping in behind her and slamming the door shut with a loud snap. The cabin was quiet after that.

The driver, the same one who had dropped them off, drove back in the direction of where the plane had dropped them off, in complete silence.

"You were nice to him." Clint said, breaking the silence after what had felt like an eternity. Avery turned her gaze from the window and onto him, surprised at the manner in which he chose to start a conversation.

"I like to think I'm nice so…"

"You wouldn't even make eye contact with me when we first met." Clint reminded her, pulling off his jacket. The cabin of the car was uncomfortably hot and smelled of sweat.

"Well, you picked the wrong time to introduce yourself." Avery said, peering out at the buildings that they passed by.

"You did well. You were able to control it."

"Peter didn't exactly stress me out."

"Fury will be pleased."

"I guess I passed the test." Avery leaned back in her seat, resting her head against the leather. Her hair stuck to her neck and to the head rest.

"Solid C+ effort."

"Shut up, Clint." Clint only laughed, allowing the conversation to drop, leaving only silence instead. Avery peeked over at him, smirking to herself when she saw that he was still smiling. She supposed that it had been a good day. She had been able to control her abilities, which was something that she normally couldn't guarantee. It caused a small amount of hope to build up within her chest. She was always cautious about being hopeful, however.

She always ended up disappointing herself in the end, so she didn't have much faith that this brief period of control would last. They never did.


	5. Chapter 5

_-Chapter Five-_

* * *

Natasha had certainly seen people who were worse. That being said, she had also seen people who were substantially better than Avery Gudrun. That didn't stop the woman from trying, however, and Natasha found she thought slightly better of her because of it. She had been watching her train for the better part of two hours, with very little improvement, and had decided that physical fighting was not, and would not likely ever be, her strong suit.

"How long has she been in there?" Natasha asked Agent Coulson, eyeing the scene in front of her wearily. She had long since lost the initial human reaction of cringing when someone took a particularly nasty hit, but she felt, watching Avery, that it might be on the verge of changing with every punch she received. She turned to look at Coulson instead.

He had his arms crossed over his chest, watching as Avery was thrown across the room roughly. He took a step closer to the glass, a thoughtful expression making its way onto his face. "Almost four hours."

"She doesn't seem to be improving." Natasha observed the sloppy way Avery attempted to block a kick, only to fail spectacularly.

"No. No she does not." Coulson cringed when she was backed into the soft wall at the far side of the room. Both he and Natasha were forced to lean forward slightly in order to see it better, only to lean back when the instructor knocked Avery out cold. "Fury seems to think that..." He paused, looking away while the instructor patted Avery's cheek until she groggily came to. "Eventually there will be some improvement."

"She was out less that time."

They were silent for a moment, during which they watched as Avery moodily push the instructor's hands out of the way. She struggled to stand up, stumbling over her own feet, before she finally stalked out of the room, completely ignoring the instructor calling her back and the other people training watching her. Natasha noticed that she left a tiny trickle of blood on the ground from her nose as she went.

"I am surprised Fury sent her out on assignment." Natasha could hardly see how she would be ready to do anything slightly helpful.

"She's very unpredictable, but she did well. Barton reported no abnormalities."

Natasha nodded slowly, turning away from the training room entirely. She had seen all she needed to see. She had read the files about Avery Gudrun and she had had some unanswered questions. She wondered why S.H.I.E.L.D. would bother with someone like her. She was unreliable, unpredictable, and most of all, entirely untrained. Now that she had seen her training she realized that even with training there wasn't much hope for her. It was unfortunate that some of the most powerful individuals, powerful being a term that Natasha used lightly, were the ones that had the least amount of control.

"She doesn't quit like that every day." Coulson said, folding his fingers up underneath his chin.

"Is Barton back?"

"He got back yesterday. The work on the Tesseract is proceeding faster than expected." Coulson looked at her. "I thought you were leaving for India?"

"I was, but something came up."

"Something always does."

"Fury is keeping her here, even with the new developments." Coulson put his hands into his suit pants pocket. He didn't seem entirely sure of Fury's decision, but he would never say so. He looked at the door that Avery had stomped through. "This is best facility we have for scientific research and she is still classified as such."

"That doesn't seem smart." Natasha said, moving towards the door. She didn't pause to see if Coulson was coming, knowing that he would walk with her regardless. "I've been watching her over the last couple of months and I haven't seen anything to indicate that she has any sort of control over her abilities."

"She has shown some improvement. Dr. Fitz has seen some definite progress with her with her control and…"

"And she is still stealing secrets right and left." Natasha finished for him. It was no secret that Natasha had taken an instant disliking to the woman. She wasn't the only one either. It was inevitable when working in the sort of field that they were. Natasha had more secrets than she could count and there was something about the idea that at any moment Avery could expose all of hers that made her indescribably angry. "I don't trust her and I don't trust her around S.H.I.E.L.D."

"It's better that she's here than anywhere else." Coulson said logically. "She is able to do it through walls now. Imagine the potential for disaster if she were to fall into the wrong hands."

"Yet another reason that she shouldn't be housed here." Natasha snapped, shoving her hands into her leather jacket. "She's evolving."

"She isn't a monkey." Coulson had the slightest bit of humor in his voice. It was quickly squashed by a sharp look from Natasha. "She's becoming more powerful, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. She has the potential to be the most powerful and affective interrogator we've ever had. Even you have to see the good in that. You are brilliant, Natasha, but you know as well as I that you have limitations on what you can get out of people. She doesn't."

"It's a bad thing, Phil. We don't know all that she is capable of."

"Which is why it's so important that we got to her before anyone else did." Coulson stopped outside a large steel door with three different sets of locks on it. "We've sent her blood off to be tested but so far we haven't found out anything. Jane Foster requested a sample, but that hasn't produced anything useful, either. It's better that she's here until we know who, or what, she is."

"Have you ever read _The Masque of the Red Death_?" Natasha asked, watching at Coulson leaned forward to show his eye to the retinal scanner. It beeped softly as the fingerprint reader appeared from behind a panel. Coulson placed his hand on it, glancing back over at Natasha.

"Once."

"The prince thought he was doing good by locking them all away from the threat, but in the end he had inadvertently invited it in with them and it killed them all."

"You are a very morbid person, Natasha."

"I'm realistic." Coulson entered his personal pin number but didn't enter the room when it the large door opened. "And I don't think that in this situation that is a bad thing."

"I'll speak to you when you get back. I'll keep you updated on her progress, if you wish." Coulson nodded to her once before he turned around and walked down the hallways towards where they kept the agents who were in medical isolation. Avery's room was there, although she wasn't technically a medical patient. Natasha imagined it was because they had the subduing instruments at the ready, should Avery exhibit a new ability that was more dangerous than her other one. "Good luck with Dr. Banner."

* * *

Avery blotted her nose bitterly, looking at the pile of bloody tissues on the floor next to her mirror. Her eye was swollen, making it harder for her to glare at her reflection properly, but it didn't stop her from trying. Her instructor, Borland, had been harder on her today than usual. Her entire body felt like it was on fire, which she had told him, and that still hadn't stopped him from insisting they run the sparring drills again and again.

She poked her swollen eye gingerly before she decided it wasn't going to magically heal itself, as much as she wished it would.

"You should seek medical attention." Avery should have expected that by leaving her door open she would be leaving herself open to forced social interaction. The unexpected presence of Coulson caught her off guard, instantly putting her on edge. She immediately forgot about the pain in her face, choosing instead to focus on not accidentally using her powers on Coulson.

"It doesn't hurt so bad." She said quietly, turning back to look at her reflection.

"You're being confined to your room for the time being." Coulson said, cutting to chase with her. He was amongst the throngs of agents who tried to get out of her presence as soon as possible. "Its for your own safety."

"Why?" Avery asked, feeling anxiety bubble up instantly. "What's going on?"

"Precaution. Someone will tell you if things change."

* * *

Nobody came to tell her that things had changed for a solid week. They brought her food and a doctor came to check up on her, but other than that she had been had just started to get tired of her own company when the agents showed up at her door. She instantly focused her attention on her powers, controlling them, the familiar pain at the front of her mind springing up almost instantly.

They led her to a bland interrogation room where another group of agents was waiting for her. A man named Kent smiled at her, a bit too widely, and asked her to extend her arms. He started hooking up the usual wires to her pulse point, her temple, and one on the back of her neck, for some reason she hadn't quite figured out. She was confused why she was there, at first, but that feeling had quickly passed. They had done the same tests over and over again for the last two months. They always hooked her up to wires and sent her into an interrogation room to see her powers in action.

"This is a good one." Avery had to wonder why he was smiling like he was as he led her into the room.

"Who is it?" She asked, resisting the urge to peel the wires off. The glue they used itched her skin something awful. She didn't, however, knowing that the faster she did what they were asking, the faster she would be done.

"You know I can't tell you."

She rolled her eyes and walked into the interrogation room, mindful of the wires, and sat herself down in one of the chairs.

"You look like a prostitute that made her pimp mad."

The person staring at her from the other side of the table was certainly not a probationary agent, which was the usual person they used for her testing. This man was dirty and mean looking, with scars on his arms and a unwavering glare on his face. She couldn't help but wonder where he got his impression of her from. She glanced down at her clothes, taking note of the fact that she was wearing her usual outfit of jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt. Her hair was up, which she admitted made her facial bruises look worse. She hardly thought prostitute was the correct term. She pulled up her shirt to her neck and chose to ignore such comments from that point onwards.

"What's your name?" Avery asked, deciding to see where she could get without her powers.

"I ain't talking." He looked like he wanted to kill her. Her eyes trailed down to the cuffs around his wrists. "You think you can do any better than the other three?"

"I'm not like the other three."Avery said quietly, glancing back at the double-sided glass. She knew Kent, and the others, were watching her, waiting to see what would happen. "I can make you talk."

"Go to hell."

Her mouth pursed, but she continued. "It would be easier if you just answered my questions." It would be easier for her, for her conscious. She still couldn't shake the acrid feeling that settled in her stomach every time she used her powers on another human being. She felt shame, but she thought that it might be a stupid thing to feel in this instance. The same shame shouldn't be assigned to both the situation with Peter Parker, which she still felt residual guilt about, and the situation with the criminal in front of her. She shook her head and refocused on the man. "I don't want to do this the hard way."

"Do what you want. I'm not going to tell you shit."

"Fine." She wasn't going sit there and argue back and forth with him.

She stood up, causing the man to bristle visibly. His hands clenched into fists and he tried to pull back from, only to be stopped by the metal hoop he was cuffed to. Moving closer to him, she held her hands out, ignoring the shaking in her fingers, and focused all of her attention on concentrating. If she was lucky she would be able to use her powers on him and only him. She had been working on it since she arrived and had yet to have consistent results. Her hands hovered over his bare arms, hesitating before she touched his skin.

"What are you doing?"

"Shhh." Avery snapped, closing her eyes in order to concentrate better.

"I'm terrified that my mother will find out that I'm a murderer and a thief."

Avery's eyes snapped open as she pulled her hands back. She shoved them into her jean pockets, thinking that they would let her out now that she had used her powers. That wasn't the case. Someone tapped on the glass, indicating that she wasn't done.

"What the hell?"

She interrupted him by placing her cool hands on his rough arms. She was thankful that he was handcuffed; she was certain he would have been currently attempting to strangle her otherwise. He didn't seem like the type of man who liked being touched. She concentrated all of her powers into her hands, feeling an odd buzzing sensation accumulating in her fingers as she tried to get him to talk.

"We were just trying to hide the body. We didn't think anybody would be out here."

"Who was it?"

"His name was Frank Tiller and he owed us all a large amount of money."

She wiped her hands on her pants and stepped back from him. He looked like he realized what she had done, although she couldn't be too sure. Most people didn't realize when they shared their secrets, but some did. Like Jane Foster or Peter Parker. Avery had the nagging feeling that this man did, if the look he was giving her was anything to go on.

"You're a freak."

"Yea, well I can understand why your mother would be ashamed of you." With that she walked up to the door. She banged her fist on the metal door, shooting one last withering look at the man in the chair. "And I do not look like a prostitute."

"Whatever, bitch."

The agent outside the door opened it a few seconds after she knocked. She slipped her way into the adjoining room without so much as a second glance. Kent closed the door behind her with a snap and turned to look at her with a large smile on his face. "That was amazing." He clapped on the shoulder soundly, which she immediately, and involuntarily, wiggled away from. "It took three other interrogators to get him to talk, and you walk in and take care of it in five minutes flat."

"I'm happy you enjoyed it." She said dryly. "Is that why I was in my room for a week? So you could find someone for me to interrogate?"

"I can't really say. Agent Coulson and Director Fury are going to pleased, though." He seemed to think that would make her happy.

"I guess I'm useful." She said, peering around his body to look through the double sided glass. "Is someone going to look for Frank Tiller?"

"We already sent people."

"I'm going back to my room now, aren't I?" Kent laughed, although Avery didn't exactly think it was funny.

"That isn't up to m…"

Agent Kent was interrupted by a blaring siren that drowned out all other noise. The small side room that looked in on the interrogation room lit up with a flashing red light. The agents all around her instantly sprung into action, gathering files and some of the smaller devices that could be carried. Avery could see the man inside the interrogation room looking around in alarm, slamming his handcuffed hands onto the table violently. He yelled at the glass, jerking his hands against his cuffs in a way that Avery thought would cause large bruises to spring up. In the large hallway the sound of hurried motion joined the sirens, making Avery completely forget about the murderer entirely. Besides, other agents were already taking care of him.

"That sounds terrible. Why is that siren going off? Sirens like that are terrible, right?"

"Generally, yes." Kent pulled out a gun, causing Avery to take a step back. "Have you been trained for this?"

"This, meaning?"

"Crisis. Have you been trained what to do?"

"No."

"Don't leave my side." He said stepping towards the hallway door, indicating for her to follow him.

"I..."

"My girlfriend doesn't know that I used part of her inheritance to buy a stock in a strip club."

"Damn it." Avery immediately tried to pull her powers back in. She clenched up her hands, focusing on calming down, despite the siren squawking into her ear. It didn't seem to be working, as Kent seemed to keep talking. "I'm sorry." She said quickly, feeling her heart rate increasing. "I'm trying I swear."

"Let's just go. There is an evacuation place we're supposed to go to."

He threw open the door and stepped into the hallway, turning to see if she was following him. "We'll be fine." Kent just finished speaking when the end of the hallway collapsed, sending rubble flying directly at them.

"Run!"


	6. Chapter 6

_-Chapter Six-_

* * *

The bottom floors of the facility were utter chaos and Avery was stuck in the middle. She scrambled to avoid a falling piece of rubble, narrowly missing her head by inches. Kent was gone, mixed up with the massive amounts of people evacuating. She hoped, at least. She supposed he could have been crushed by something in the mess around her. She hoped not, but she couldn't know.

She skidded down the hallway ungracefully, bouncing off people and the walls as she struggled to make it out of the S.H.I.E.L.D. base that had been her home for the last two months. Initially, she didn't think it was so bad. Then the ceiling started falling and people started screaming. Kent had told her to stay with him while they evacuated, but that plan had quickly gone out the window when they ran into the hallway and saw the scene unfolding. She started running, slipping away from them out of self-preservation.

People were shouting at each other, holding expensive looking pieces of equipment to their chest. She thought those machines might be worth more than the entire state of Rhode Island. She couldn't help but think it seemed rather ridiculous that they were so concerned with getting that stuff out. Nobody paid any attention to her, not that she expected them to. They were concerned with getting out alive just the same as her. She followed in the same direction as them, hoping it would lead her in the direction of an exit.

Avery avoided making eye contact with every person she passed by. It stemmed from paranoia, she knew, but she couldn't help but imagine a scenario that involved them escorting her out with an armed guard. She let her hair fall in front of her face, out of instinct, hoping that she would be able to move quickly enough to make it out without being noticed.

There was the added fact that she couldn't seem to get her powers under control. Her head pounded from the effort to try and control her powers, the pressure behind her eyes was almost unbearable, but she still tried.

"Everyone out!"

The ground shook beneath her feet, spurring her to move faster.

"Quickly! Move!"

Avery didn't need to be told twice. She elbowed past a pair of youthful looking men, each larger than a truck, so that she could run through the door without being caught up in the throngs of people trying to leave the facility. They were panicked, which was making her more panicked. There was something very big going on and Avery had decided that she officially no longer wanted any part of it. S.H.I.E.L.D. was on her shit list. They had earned themselves an eternal spot, as far as she was concerned, and this event just made her hate them more.

The walls in the new hallway were beginning to crack around her. Large chunks of drywall fell to the floor and shattered at her feet, sending white flecks of paint and dust all over her black boots. People were being hit with the pieces, although Avery didn't stop to see if they were hurt.

She kept running.

"Wait!"

Avery glanced back over her shoulder at the sound of the voice. It was one of the agents that had come for her and Kent, looking livid to see her sprinting away from them. Avery had learned over the last months that S.H.I.E.L.D. was very serious when it came to their investments. And Avery was an investment. She knew that, she knew that they wanted to use her for what she could do. There was no other way to describe it. They spent too much time on her; too much energy trying to teach her to control her abilities like it would eventually matter to them. She supposed she shouldn't have sprinted off in the opposite direction of Kent as soon as she things started to get hairy. That made her seem flighty and she didn't think this sort of organization did well with unpredictable subjects.

"Watch it!" Avery glanced back at the small woman she had run into but didn't bother stopping. People were beginning to act foolishly, which annoyed Avery. These people were supposed to be composed in these sorts of situations.

People were beginning to pile up in front of the double doors at the end of the hallway. Avery skidded to a halt, looking around frantically. Being at the back of the throng she knew there was no way she was going to make it out of those doors in time. There were too many people clambering to get out. In a panic, he peered down one of the emptier hallways, hoping to find another way out. She almost cried out in joy when she saw another door tucked back in the corner. She looked around her, debating with herself before she made up her mind.

It was a stairwell that only led upward. Not exactly what she had been looking for but she would take it. She took the stairs two at a time, only tripping once, until she came to another door that looked like it might lead her out of the facility. The floor shook violently suddenly, sending her to the floor unceremoniously. Her hipbone cracked on the hard ground painfully, causing her to cry out over the sound of the siren. She wrapped her hands around it for a moment, grimacing at the pain. She wanted to stay there for a little while, just long enough for her hip to stop throbbing, but she was shaken from those thoughts by the floor underneath her cracking in two. She immediately shot up, doing her best to avoid putting too much weight on her hip, and limped out the door, tears prickling her eyes from the pain.

The door led to an open courtyard in the facility, surrounded by buildings that were all trembling. The sides of the buildings were cracked and crumbling. She immediately moved away from the building she had escaped from, looking around for a place to go. It would help her to be better able to handle this sort of crisis if she knew anything about where she was. Over the last two months she had only been able to gather so much information, none of which was helpful to her right now. She had tried to glean some information from the people who brought her food, using her abilities and otherwise, but they had net been able to tell her much more than that it was located somewhere in the New Mexican desert and that the facility was dealing with some sort of crisis. That didn't help her much. There could be no place to go besides blistering expanses of sand and starvation for all she knew.

Avery glanced around her, wheezing heavily. There was dust kicked up all around her from the evacuation making it even harder for her to breathe. She expected to see more people around her, but all she could see was the desert in front of her behind the fences of the facility and the shaking buildings behind her.

She started hobbling towards the desert, knowing that it was her only option at the time being. She paused and looked over her shoulder once, only to instantly regret it. The building was starting to collapse, sinking into the ground in places. She moved towards the fence faster, crying at the pain in her hip. When she got to the fence she started climbing, picking her way up and over the barbed wire. It shook beneath her, so violently she feared it would collapse, but she kept climbing.

When the building started to fully sink into the ground, she threw herself off the fence towards the vast expanse in front of her, doing her best to duck and roll to avoid more injury. She sprawled out on the ground awkwardly, her breath knocked out of her. She allowed herself to lay there for only a moment before getting back up, hip straining to support her body weight. She put pressure on it, feeling more tears spilling out from the corner's of her eyes, and tried to give herself a mental pep talk.

This is what she had been hoping for for weeks, months. She had wanted a way out and it seemed that she had found one, even if it wasn't in the way she expected.

* * *

"How exactly is it that you let Avery Gudrun escape?" Nick Fury's arm was paining him horribly and his back hurt worse than ever. Then there was the added headache, if something so mild could describe it, of Loki and the tesseract. And of course, Erik Selvig and Agent Barton. Now there was the subject of one Avery Gudrun. She had been causing him trouble from the moment Jane Foster reported her and it didn't seem as if that was going to stop any time soon. He turned his anger and annoyance towards the man he had put in charge. "Answer me."

"Well, Sir, it happened in the evacuation." Kent, the agent he he had assigned to administer Avery Gudrun's final set of tests and to watch her, shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "We tried to keep track of her, but in all the chaos…"

"All the chaos." Director Fury glared at Kent with his good eye. "Your excuse for losing one of the most valuable and volatile assets this organization has ever come across is _chaos_."

"Yes, but…"

"Kent are you aware that Avery Gudrun was dangerous before we came across her?"

"Yes Sir…"

"And you are aware, more so than anybody else, what she can do?"

"I am." Kent could hardly make eye contact with him.

"Then perhaps you would like to come up with a better excuse than the damn chaos." Director Fury slammed the file he had been holding down.

"Sir, I can assure you that my team did all we would to recover Miss Gudrun during the evacuation."

"You followed the book?"

"Yes sir."

Fury leveled him with a withering glare. He seemed to shrink under his gaze, looking as if he wanted nothing more than to run from the room with his tail between his legs. As if was, he sat down in the chair heavily, holding his hands in his lap. They trembled and were horrendously pale. Fury eyed them for a moment before turning his attention back to his panicky face. "That is your first problem, Kent. She was never going to follow our rules."

"I do not follow."

"To put it plainly. People like Avery Gudrun live to spit in the coffee of the agencies that try to keep them under control." Fury folded his arms across his chest. "She was waiting for the perfect opportunity to escape and you gave her one."

"I…"

"Reconnaissance teams are already sweeping the desert for her now. We do not expect that she will have gone very far. You got lucky this time, Kent."

"It won't happen again, Director Fury." He seemed relieved to hear that Avery Gudrun was not gone forever. He even cracked a small smile as he smoothed his shirt down over his chest. It was a motion that represented ease.

"I know it won't. I'm transferring you out." Fury moved to walk out of the room, pausing only to give the Kent one final parting message. "The time for training games and experiments is over. We are at war and you let one of our most valuable assets slip through your fingers. You will be reassigned off medical security until further notice."

* * *

"Do you have her test results back?" Darcy looked at her nails, ignoring the beeping in the background of the makeshift lab. Jane didn't seem to mind the setup S.H.I.E.L.D. had given them after the incident with Thor, but Darcy did. There wasn't anybody but Jane to talk to and lately all she could talk about was her experiments. Jane didn't respond, not that Darcy expected her to. Jane had had her eyes pushed into her microscope for the last three hours and didn't show any signs of resurfacing anytime soon. "Janey." Darcy stood up, dropping her nail file onto the sanitized lab table. "Jane. Jane Elise Foster."

"This is fascinating." Jane murmured, a smile on her face.

Darcy rolled her eyes. She was hardly surprised that Jane was ignoring her. She was in one of her 'sciencey' moods. They had been happening more since Thor had left, although this instance was longer than others. Jane had been sitting in the same spot for the last three days and she was starting to smell, as Darcy had told her numerous times. She also hadn't been eating with the same consistency, which had started to affect Darcy. They ate their meals together.

At least, they ate their meals together because Jane always paid.

"Darcy, come look at this." Jane finally looked up. She pushed her hair out of her face, sweeping it into a tight pony tail. Darcy thought it was better that way; it hid the grease better, not that Jane noticed. Jane rubbed her eyes as she stepped back to allow Darcy to look through the microscope. "I've never seen anything like it."

Darcy was sure she wouldn't have either, but she imagined that had a slightly different meaning to Jane.

Darcy had to look at it for approximately ten seconds before she confirmed what she had originally thought. They were nothing but squiggles that had some scientific name that Darcy didn't think she would ever bother to learn. Apparently, the squiggles were important."What am I looking at?" Darcy asked, readjusting her glasses. She pretended to be genuinely interested. Jane only bought that from Darcy when she was so caught up in her experiments. Normally, Jane would roll her eyes and return to her work, muttering something snide under her breath. "Is that her blood?"

"Yes." Jane said, seeming a bit too excited about blood for Darcy's tastes. "Now look at this." Her hands were shaking with excitement as she fingered through the little boxes of slides. Darcy watched her, wondering if she should have forced Jane to leave the lab and breathe fresh air at some point.

"Look, look at the white blood cells."

"I don't know how to tell them apart, Jane. I was a poli-sci major." Darcy said, noticing how Jane's eye twitched slightly when she reminded her that her assistant knew about as much about science as she did about poli-sci, which was a depressing amount, despite the fact that she had spent four years studying it. "I'm going to take a guess though and say that their good."

"No. Well yes, medically speaking white blood cells are good in the right numbers, but no not in this instance." Darcy fixed her glasses again, feeling her eyes start to take on the glazed look that she usually sported whenever Jane started speaking in terms of science. "Never mind." Jane pulled Darcy away from the microscope so that she could look at it again. "The count isn't just what I'm talking about. The count is much higher than normal but there's something else." She put the first slide back into place. "The shape. Look at the shape."

Darcy humored Jane, mostly in an attempt to get out of the lab faster. She had received the blood samples from Avery Gudrun, or the personal boundary crosser as Darcy thought of her, and hadn't stopped looking at them since. They were starting to excite Jane but Darcy wasn't so sure what she should be getting excited about.

The squiggly shapes were still squiggly.

"You'll have to explain it to me. And use normal people words. I understand Erik isn't here to talk about this with so I'll have to do, but try not to melt my brain."

"The second slide was a sample of my blood."

"Gross."

"The first is the sample that S.H.I.E.L.D. got from Avery Gudrun."

"Cool."

"Darcy, you don't understand. However you want to describe this, it's huge! The first blood sample doesn't match the second." Jane said, gesturing to the sample slides of blood.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, one sample of blood is human and the other is..." Jane paused, holding up the blood samples next to each other for Darcy to see. "Well, that's just it, isn't it? I don't know what the other is."


	7. Chapter 7

_-Chapter Seven-_

* * *

Water was a seriously underrated privilege, in Avery's opinion. Her throat was so dry it felt like it was bleeding and her nose was so crusty from all the sand caked to it she was certain breathing was going to become a luxury if she didn't find a way out of the desert soon.

She wiped her forehead, digging her fingers up to her hairline underneath her makeshift head wrap. It was supposed to keep her cooler, but at this point she thought it was total horse shit. She was overheating like a whore in church. Avery had had just about enough of the sun for a lifetime and could think of nothing else but what she wouldn't do for a little bit of shade and a bucket of ice water to stick her head in.

In addition to the heat and intensity of the sun, her hip was paining her horribly. Walking was practically agony for her. She had tried crawling before she realized it burned her hands too much and imbedded little pebbles into her palms like tiny knives. She was now forced to hobble along like an eighty year-old woman who just had a hip replacement.

All in all, her situation was about the worst she could think of and she had only been on her own for about seven hours.

She imagined Director Fury would be positively beaming when he found out that she couldn't last ten minutes on her own without burning to a crisp in the New Mexican desert. Or that might have been a mirage. Either way, she scowled the whole way. Wandering around aimlessly did have its benefits, however small and insignificant as they may be. She was given plenty of time to think, even if she didn't really have much to think about beyond why S.H.I.E.L.D. got her panties in a twist like no one, person or otherwise, had before.

She was angry. That's the emotion she had decided on about an hour after the facility collapsed. The nerve of them, really. The nerve of them thinking that it was okay to drag her all over creation only to end up putting her life at risk by keeping her in the basement of a facility that was, apparently, prone to collapsing. She could have died. And for what? Nothing, as far as she could see.

Avery kicked the nearest rock into a shrub, instantly regretting it as she did. The motion caused her hip to spasm, the tightening of the muscle sending her stumbling into a particularly spikey bush.

"Son of a…" She bit her lip.

More insult to her injury, she supposed.

She looked down at her arm and cursed under her breath at the sight of the angry red scratches that the bush had just caused, blood oozing out of each. The dust and dirt in the air made them sting.

"Perfect. This is just perfect." She looked down at her body, taking in an inventory of the clothing she still had and let out an annoyed sigh. Her jacket was already wrapped around her head haphazardly, leaving her with only her thin shirt. Seeing no other option, she gingerly pulled it over her head. She was left in nothing but her sports bra, although that didn't bother her too much. It wasn't like the buzzards would care. She wrapped the shirt around her scratched arm, hissing to herself at the sting, before she tied it off the best she could. "I'll probably bleed out before I get to any sort of humanity. That would make Fury happy."

Avery stood for a while, thinking.

She considered the idea of going back to the facility. People were most likely still working on cleaning it up, at least she hoped they were. The idea of an air conditioned car and a nice tall glass of water was almost enough to make her reconsider her principles on the matter of the situation. Almost, being the key word to her. She felt her stubbornness rearing its ugly head when she thought about groveling, and groveling was the correct word, to the people who had kept her hostage.

At the moment, she would rather burn to a crisp.

She started marching again, alternating between stomping angrily and shuffling when her hip was in too much pain.

"What the hell are you doing, girl?"

Avery almost screamed at the sound of the voice. It came out of nowhere, throwing her out of her rhythm. She was perfectly happy to think that she would be alone with her thoughts for a few hours without interruption. It was too good to be true. Even in a desert it seemed she was doomed to constantly be around people. This particular human was about as withered as they come and armed. He was pointing a shotgun at her, the nose shaking in a way that instantly made panic spring up in her chest.

She didn't like feeling panicked. It made her feel like she lost all control of everything about her and the world around her. She could feel her self-control slipping the moment the man came out of nowhere, threatening to spill out and make the entire situation worse. He seemed like the man that wasn't too fond of sharing his secrets and she certainly didn't want to be the one to find out if she was right.

"Answer me, girl. I'm not in the habit of repeating myself."

"I'm walking." Avery said, sidestepping slightly so that her lower half was concealed by a nearby scrub brush. Some of the long branched stabbed her thighs, but she didn't notice. "What are you doing?"

"I'll be the one asking the questions." He raised the gun even higher, the nose now pointed at her shoulder instead of her stomach. She raised her hands instantly, waving them around as a form of surrender.

"Right, of course."

"This is private property and I don't take to kindly to back alley whores walking around like they own the place."

Avery's mouth fell open. She quickly closed it when she realized it might have confirmed what he had just called her. "I'm not a…"

"Who else would wear nothing but her undies in a desert? What are you trying to do, see what you'll die of first; heat stroke or sun poisoning?"

Avery looked down at herself, realization dawning on her. She supposed she did look a little tawdry, with her bra and black pants. But then again, she didn't see how it was any of his business what she chose to wear in the first place. She was a little miffed, however, that this was the second time in a day someone implied that she was somehow involved in some sort of after hours work. "I was in an accident and have been looking for some sort of civilization for hours."

"You one of them government folks?"

Avery narrowed her eyes at him, bending down a little bit so that more of her was covered by the bush. "Are you?"

Her eyes never left the gun he had pointed at her chest.

"No."

"Good." Avery said, letting out a tiny breath. "That's good. I'm not either, so hey, that means we're practically the same."

"I'm not you, girlie, and you aren't me." He finally lowered his gun so that it wasn't actively threatening her life. She took that as a sign that the man was warming up to her. "For goodness sake, cover yourself up before you turn redder than a lobster."

"I cut my arm."

"And the best solution you could come up with was the strip down to your skivvies." Avery couldn't help but admire his talent for sarcasm.

"Yes. I was always an excellent problem solver in school."

"And that's where you peaked." The man threw his gun over his shoulder, a very unhappy look on his face. "You might as well come with me. My old lady would kill me if she found out I let some wayward woman rot out in here."

"You're married?" Avery asked, pulling her jacket off her head. She had to force the sleeve over her shirt, which caused her cut to flare up again.

"Of course, a catch like me." Avery's mouth set into a straight line. The man was no longer pointing the gun at her and he wasn't nearly as surly as Director Fury so she didn't think he could be so bad. There was the fact that he kept implying she was the sort to provide temporary companionship, but she thought she could let that slide if he was willing to give her a bit of fresh water and a vehicle to get her to the nearest bank. "What's your name, girl?"

"Avery."

He pursed his lips with dissatisfaction."I prefer girl. Let's go."

* * *

"That business at the base caused me such a fright. It's amazing you weren't hurt."

Maude Loomis was chatty. She hadn't stopped gabbing at Avery since the moment she walked through their door with her husband, Bill. Avery didn't mind, per say, but she wasn't exactly fond of the direction the conversation was taking. She had been able to convince them that she was in a small single man airplane accident, not one of her more stellar lies, and was in need of a bit of assistance.

"Smoke, filling the sky like the Lord Himself is sending us a message." Maude wiped the sweat from her brow and took a large sip from her sweet tea. "Is that what brought your plane down?"

Avery looked up at her, trying to hide the surprised look on her face. Aviation might not have been her best alibi, considering she didn't know the first thing about it. She tacked on her most charming smile and tried to best to think of something that sounded intelligent. "Yes. The smoke filled up my intake valve and caused an engine malfunction." Total crap, but it sounded believable, she hoped.

"Poor dear." Maude smiled at her in a motherly way that made Avery instantly uncomfortable. "Thank goodness my Bill found you."

"He was very sweet."

"Sweet as ice cream on a hot day, he is." Maude smiled even wider when she spoke about her husband. Bill, who had disappeared suspiciously soon after he had taken Avery to the Loomis' small home, did not seem like the type of man who married a woman like Maude. Avery was trying hard not to judge, but it was hard for her. In fact, that sort of thing was always hard for her. "I'm sorry I didn't have anything else that would fit you. You're just as skinny as pole."

Maude had been slipping comments in like that for the entire duration of the visit. Truthfully, Avery was only a fraction smaller than she had been when S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken her. She still liked to think she was on the curvier side. Compared to Maude, however, she was positively skeletal. There was the judgment, and she instantly pushed those thoughts back and forced herself to smile at the woman.

"This is more than fine. It's more than you had to do." Avery held the loose fabric of the muumuu up and tried not to pay attention to the bright color. "I really appreciate it."

"Think nothing of it." Maude added a bit more tea to her glass and squeezed a bit of lemon in before taking a long sip. "It's been ages since I had a visitor. I'm just happy you're here."

Avery was too, despite everything. Maude and Bill were very normal, very unassuming people. She liked how mundane they were, how simple. No secret superpowers, or murder secrets, or life altering revelations up their sleeves. When they weren't armed, and she was thinking of Bill pointedly, they were about as stressful as a kitten. Her powers hadn't threatened to come out once while with them and for that she was thankful. She was almost considering asking them if she could stay the night and leave in the morning, just to enjoy their carefree presence a little bit longer.

The headache that she had had for months felt like it was finally beginning to slip away and she felt oddly light at the moment. Even the enormous muumuu wasn't weighing her down.

"Me too. This ice tea is delicious."

"Enough flattery. Tell me about yourself. A pretty girl like you spending her free time flying and has manners to boot. Your momma and daddy sure did right by you."

Her accent was especially thick and made Avery think of her teacher Mrs. Hibley.

Avery shook her head. No pressure, no panic, no stress.

She had to remind herself of that and keep her thoughts on everyday things. Maude was very nice and Avery would hate to have that ruined by her powers and their tendency to ruin people for her.

"My mom was always very fond of manners."

"Southern, I expect."

"I'm not really sure. She never told me and I never thought to ask. We did spend a lot of time moving around New Mexico and Texas."

"So a southern girl, raised with manners, and likes to fly planes. Is there a man in the picture?"

Avery couldn't help but laugh. She had only interacted with four men on a regular basis as of late. The first was Director Fury. She didn't think he had a romantic bone in her body. She moved on from those thoughts rather quickly as they threatened to make her giggle like an idiot. The next was her S.H.I.E.L.D. therapist, Dr. Fitz. He was handsome, in a super smart and clinical sort of way, but he had the tendency to make her uncomfortable, so he was out. The third was her trainer, who she never really got around to learning his name consistently. He was all muscle. She thought even his fingers were ripped. He was out just because he had punched her in the face one too many times for her to think of him in any sort of romantic capacity. The last was the most plausible. Clint Barton was handsome, and nice in his own way, and didn't actively hate her.

He worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., however, and that meant he was out in her mind.

"Nope. No man. Do you know any?"

"Just my William. And he likes his women a bit thicker." Avery did her best not to show her revulsion at the thought. "Speaking of William, where is that man?"

Now that she was focusing on it, Avery was suddenly aware of a soft murmuring in a farther part of their house. He was on the phone. She looked back at Maude, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly. She leaned back in her chair, trying to hear what he was saying without being too obvious to Maude. The other woman had taken on a very nervous look on her face and moved away from the table. She was standing at one of their cracked purple cabinets, rummaging around noisily.

At the sound of the phone clicking in the other room, she stopped.

Avery felt a knot settle in her stomach.

"Do you want a sandwich? Bologna, Kraft American Singles, and Mayo is the house specialty."

"Who was Bill talking to?" Avery asked, leaning back until she was only on two legs.

"My brother." Bill said from behind Avery, sending her crashing to the floor in surprise. "He's just bought a new irrigation system."

"Oh, William, I was just making sandwiches." Maude was speaking very squeakily and loudly, despite the fact that they were both within spitting distance of her.

Avery pulled herself up, eyes flicking back and forth between the couple. Perhaps she was reading too much into it. They were too nice to be involved with the likes of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Or perhaps they were just the type. Either way, Avery took a few steps towards the door.

"Oh, dear. Where are you going?" Maude's upper lip was sweating more than before. "You're all skin and bones and in no shape to go back out there. Come and sit for a while." Avery's suspicions were confirmed, much to her dismay, when she saw Maude setting out just two plates.

One for her, one for Bill, none for Avery.

"I really have to go." She stuttered. Her brain was swimming and buzzing. She clenched her hands together against the fabric of the dress, digging her dirty nails into the meaty part of her palm. "I have to report my cras…"

Avery felt a little bit of blood in spring up under her fingernails when there was a loud knock at the door.

"About damn time." Bill walked his way over to the door, bowlegged as ever, and opened it with a bang.

Avery sunk behind a little cutout in their kitchen and looked around for her shoes. She would need them when she ran. She sank down to hands and knees and started crawling forward as carefully as possible, doing her best to make no noise.

"Where is she?"

Avery didn't recognize that voice. It made her crawl faster. She could see her dirt covered boots in the corner next to the back door that Bill had originally walked her through. Her socks were there too. And her jacket. Everything she would need except water to make a break for it. Her arm and hip twanged, almost forcing her to cry out. She bit down on the neckline of the muumuu, pointedly ignore the smell of White Diamond, and continued on with her baby crawl.

"Right over there."

"Miss Gudrun, show yourself."

Avery did not do as she was told. She continued on at a much fast pace, pushing aside the little ceramic statues that were in her way.

"Why are you crawling away in a circus tent?"

Maude gave an affronted noise that was instantly quieted by one of the numerous S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that had shown up. She couldn't help but think that Director Fury put forth a lot of effort where she was concerned and had yet to receive any payouts. She was planning on keeping it that way.

"How many are there?" Avery asked, not looking back as she continued crawling.

"More than you."

"I gathered that." She slipped behind the couch and dared to peek back at them.

There were eight of them, all wearing black bullet proof vests that looked extraordinarily hot. The one in the front seemed to be in charge. Maybe his jawline had gotten him this job. Avery wasn't intimidated. She was beyond that with them. Now that she had been seen and seen them she stood up, crossing her arms over her chest obstinately. The muumuu was so large it slipped off her shoulder and revealed one of her sweat-stained bra straps. Normally, she would be embarrassed for eight men, and a half if she counted Bill, to see her in such a state.

"Am I to assume Nick sends his regards?"

She walked over to the door to grab her boots and jacket. She chanced a glance out of the glass window in the door and instantly regretted it. There was a man with a gun aimed right at her. She stepped back, tripping over the other shoes. She managed to right herself before she fell again.

"Get your shoes on." The man with the spectacular jaw said, moving closer to her. "We're already behind thanks to you and your little stunt."

"It wasn't really a stunt." Avery said, refusing to put on her shoes. "It was pretty cut and dry. The building was collapsing so I ran. Seemed like the perfect time for me to get away from all the bullshit. Plain and simple." She paused and looked around the man towards Maude. "Sorry for the language."

"Think nothing of it dear." She was holding a dish towel to her chest and looked liable to pass out at any moment.

"Whatever Fury wants you can tell him I refuse." She glared at the man with all the venom she could muster.

"Not an option." He grabbed her shoulder roughly and began to pull her towards the other door, her boots completely forgotten.

"Well, I say it is."

"I will sedate you, if needed Miss Gudrun."

"Go for it, Jay Leno." She tried to shrug out of his grip only to have him tighten it. "That's the only way you're going to get me to cooperate."

"Rumlow, they want to know how far out we are. They're planning to launch at any moment."

Rumlow. The name suited him. "Tell them we have the subject."

"Oh, no you don't."

"How up to date are you on your Norse mythology?" Rumlow asked, snapping his fingers at one of his men. The man stepped forward, holding out a very large and very intimidating looking needle. That gave her pause. Not enough for her to willing jump back to S.H.I.E.L.D., however. She squirmed harder.

"I think you need to get you ears checked, buddy, because you are clearly not hearing a word I'm saying to you."

"Director Fury will debrief you more once we arrive. For now, I suggest you save your energy. From what I understand, you're going to need it."

The man placed the needle in Rumlow's hand.

"I'm not going to do it. I refuse."

"We didn't ask."

Avery felt a prick of pain for a moment before she face-planted on the linoleum floor, blackness overcoming her despite her best efforts to stay awake.


	8. Chapter 8

_-Chapter Eight-_

* * *

The lights above her were mocking her. Laughing, or something like that. She wasn't entirely sure. She tried to move her arm to shield her eyes, only to discover that it felt like lead, weighing her down. Avery struggled three more times before she became frustrated and gave up trying to move them and moved her attention towards wiggling her toes and fingers instead. It wasn't working. Nothing was working and she was more upset than she had ever been in her entire life.

"Wake her up."

A hand on her neck, pressing against her pulse point, gave her a bit more awareness. It was cold in the room and smelled of rubbing alcohol that burned her nose. Avery tried to move again, feeling her frustration mounting with each passing moment of paralysis.

"It isn't safe."

"What do you mean?"

More hands were on her body, some rougher than others. There was one pair that lingered on her hip, probing it in a way that would have received a slap if she had been able to move.

"Her hip is less inflamed. She should be able to walk without issue when she wakes up."

"Her heart rate is increasing."

"Wake her up, Doctor."

"I just said it isn't safe. She could go into shock."

"Then it's a very good thing she's in a room full of highly trained medical professionals, isn't it? Do it."

Avery heard the sound of what she assumed was her heart rate monitor increasing as she started becoming more and more aware of her surroundings. The hands stopped touching her shortly before she felt a small prick in her neck. This needle was larger than the last, which had been smaller than a sewing needled, and went deep into her neck, catching her in the relaxed muscles. She instantly tensed as the medicine, whatever it was, burned her.

It felt like fire coursing through her body, painfully forcing feeling and movement back into all of her limbs. Her muscles began to twitch horribly, the spasms so violent they threatened to make her fall off the table. She was caught by a pair of arms around her upper thighs. They positioned her back on the table; holding onto her legs in what she assumed was supposed to be a comforting way. It wasn't. In fact, it made her panic even more. She didn't know who these people were, these people with the needles, and she was scared. She couldn't even open her eyes to see what was going on. She was blind and unable to move and her body hurt.

"Movement is returning to her lower extremities. Bind her legs for her own safety."

"Rumlow used too much."

"Her skin is burning up. Body temperature at 100.6 and climbing."

"Neural activity increasing."

Avery felt tears slipping out of the corner of her eyes. She didn't understand what she had done, why she was here. She didn't know where she was and that added to her fear tenfold. The medicine that put fire in her veins and muscles settled into a slow simmer, working its way through her entire body until she wanted to scream at the pain.

"How long is it until she's fully functioning?" Avery learned to hate the owner of that voice rather quickly. "We need her."

"You should have thought of that before you pumped not one, but two experimental drugs into her system in a span of twelve hours after she spent upwards of half a day wandering around in the sun without water or food." There was a metallic banging.

"The Director ordered us to use any means necessary to ensure Avery Gudrun returned safely and ready to assist in whatever way we need her to."

"This isn't what I consider safe. She's on seizure watch. Tell the Director she isn't going anywhere, or doing anything, until I deem her well enough."

"Who do you…"

"I'm in charge of her wellbeing; something guaranteed is at risk. That's who I am. Now get out."

Avery could barely hear the sound of a door slamming shut mingled with angry words from the Doctor. He mumbled under his breath, moving closer to her. She could feel his warmth as he leaned over her to check the monitors. His hand pressed just under her chin, one finger pressing over the puncture wound from the needle. "Sorry bunch of bastards." Avery couldn't agree more. She wished she could have nodded her agreement, or expressed her thanks for the way the Doctor cared for her, but she couldn't do either. She couldn't do anything, really, beyond trying to stop the moisture from welling out of her eyes and spilling onto the metal table.

She wasn't doing a very good job.

"She'll be awake soon."

She was already awake, even if they didn't know it. She half wondered if they were purposely ignoring the way her eyes twitched behind her lids, or if they were just more concerned with other things. The Doctor didn't seem like an idiot, or inconsiderate for that matter, but that didn't change the fact that he got his orders from Fury, or someone that took their orders from Fury. She didn't trust any of them farther than she could throw them and that was magnified when it involved needles and drugs that made her skin feel like it was sloughing off.

Ten minutes on the exam table felt like ten hours so it felt like an eternity before someone cracked open one of her eyes and shined a bright light in them. The room was stark white accented with metal. The machines that she could see, the most intimidating ones that hung from the ceiling, were beeping and covered in little lights that showed they were on. She could barely make out the tubes that were attached to her body somewhere before the person took the light away and closed her eye, throwing her back into darkness.

"My mother doesn't know I steal from her wallet every time I go home." If she could do more than groan, she would have. "She thinks she's starting to develop memory problems and I don't have it in me to tell her otherwise."

"My little brother is a thief. He's currently serving 10 years without parole."

"That's a shame."

"It really is. But the bright side is that I'm officially the family favorite."

Avery struggled to stop things from getting any worse. She tried to pull it back, to reel it in so that she was controlling it, but it didn't really work. She could feel it getting away from her, like she was trying to hold water in her hands but it was just seeping out faster and faster.

"I've never been the family favorite. It might have to do with how honest I get after a few drinks. I'm a mean drunk."

"Better that than a weepy one."

Avery almost jumped for joy, if she could have, when she was finally able to move her hands and feet. She would have been able to move more if she wasn't strapped down. She balled her hands into fists and worked on being able to open her eyes. She didn't know why they felt so heavy.

"I talk to my cat like she's a person when I'm drunk. One time I kissed her and didn't even feel bad about it the next morning."

Avery had had enough. She forced herself to tear open her eyes, ignoring the flash of pain and turned her head to look at the Doctor and his nursing staff. They were all staring at her with surprised expressions on their faces. Apparently, she was ahead of schedule. She didn't care for their schedule, she decided. She tried to sit up, only to have a hand on her shoulder, pushing her back down.

"Remove her restraints."

She shot a dark look at the nurse who removed the leather straps. She was the one who liked to kiss her cat.

"How do you feel?"

Like she had been drugged. "Fine." Her words sounded stuffy. She swallowed a nonexistent wad of spit and tried to sit up again.

The Doctor, who had been semi-comforting, looked like he was old enough to be valedictorian of the nearest high school. The start of a beard helped to make him look slightly older, although not enough to make her trust him with her medical care. She glanced down and couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. He was wearing cargo pants and a pair of hiking boots that had seen better days.

"I'm Dr. Jinney."

Avery eyes him, trying to figure out which secret had been his. Maybe the one about the thief younger brother.

"Be careful." He placed a hand on her back and helped to balance her. Avery ignored the way his hand was touching her back sweat. She glanced back behind her and wanted to melt into a puddle at the sight of the moisture her had left behind on the table. "You might experience some residual side effects of the drugs."

"I consider it to be my wel..." She trailed off, unable to speak without it sounding like she was choking on a pile of dirt her throat was so cracked. "Do you have water?"

A nurse materialized out of nowhere and handed her a glass of extremely cold water along with a bagel that was supposed to look appetizing, Avery imagined. It didn't. She immediately set it aside, purposely putting it in her sweat stain, and downed the glass of water.

The doctor removed his hand and stood up to check on her vital signs, giving her time to look around the room. The machines and supply cabinets were hardly interesting, but the observation galley offered her something to look at to bide her time while she waited for the Doctor to say something. There were people up there and they were all staring at her. Or more accurately, some were staring at her, while others were staring at the now sweaty bagel with disgusted looks on their faces. She kept staring at them and reached her hand back, trying to be subtle, and knocked the bagel to the floor.

One of them laughed.

She stuck her face in her glass and looked at her feet, feeling a blush engulfing her face. They had been nice enough to cover her feet in socks, even if they didn't bother going the extra mile to clean her off.

"They've been there the whole time." Dr. Jinney said, glancing up at the observers. "You're very important to them."

"Apparently." Avery couldn't help but look back up at them.

She could see Agent Coulson standing closest to the glass, talking on the phone with someone she assumed was very important. The next man, the one that towered over everyone else, wasn't someone she recognized. He was distractingly handsome in a very vanilla sort of way. She looked over at the next man. He looked nervous to be there, although she didn't know why. He looked smart, which she considered to be a good thing, and thoughtful. He was staring at her, however, in a way that made her highly uncomfortable.

He seemed to feel the same way.

When they made eye contact he instantly started shaking. His hands balled into fists at his sides, fingernails digging into his palms in an obviously painful way. She watched in confusion as the tips of his fingers started to turn an odd, very pale shade of green. It spread up from his nails and over his hands. The other man, the tall one, noticed almost as soon as it started. He spoke to the one in the glasses rapidly, arms extended out in a placating way. Coulson quickly hung up his phone and dialed a new number. The man in the glasses ignored both of them and continued shaking.

He looked back at Avery for a brief moment before he ran out of the room.

Avery knew he mouth was open like an idiot but she couldn't help it.

The other man looked back down at Avery. He stepped closer to the glass, pressing his hand against it, and looked at her with an indescribable amount of intensity. He was blaming her for something; she could see that in his eyes. He left the room shortly after that, leaving the observation galley empty and Avery wondering what the hell had just happened.

Her head throbbed, from both the medication and confusion, and the sweat that coated her body suddenly felt very cold and uncomfortable.

"The Director asked me to report to him when you wake up." Dr. Jinney kept glancing up at the empty glass room and back at her.

Avery finally tore her gaze away from the room and looked back at Dr. Jinney. "Who was that?"

"Dr. Bruce Banner and Captain Steve Rogers."

Avery wondered if that was supposed to mean something to her.

"Get dressed."

Avery jumped when the exam room was suddenly flooded with men wearing S.H.I.E.L.D. issue clothing. A few of them were holding guns. The one who was speaking to her was the same man that had been so nice to her in the desert, the one who thought it was appropriate to shove a needle in her throat. His name started with an R, maybe. She crossed her arms over her chest at the sight of him, completely ignoring the fact that she was in nothing but a flimsy hospital gown.

"Get dressed." He repeated, throwing something blue and scratchy looking at her. She caught it and dropped it on the table next to her without even bothering to unfold it to see what it was.

"What's going on?" Avery asked, eyeing the man closest to her with disdain. Dr. Jinney was pushed back towards the far side of the room, despite his protests.

"The situation has changed." R-something walked over to the table and picked up the pile of clothes and shoved them into her chest. "Get dressed."

"Are you going to leave?"

"No." He said.

"Are you going to turn around?" Avery asked, looking at all of the men with an expectant look on her face.

"Are you going to get dressed?"

"Yes. Oh my god, yes." Avery jumped off the table, only to instantly regret it. There was a draft in the back that made her realize she wasn't wearing any underwear. She reached her hand back to make sure the dress was covering her up, feeling a blush covering her entire body. "Now, turn around."

All of the men did so, albeit reluctantly. When she was certain no one could see anything they shouldn't, she slipped out of the hospital gown. She dropped it on the table and unfolded the pile of clothes they gave her. It was a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform that was three sizes too big and they didn't see fit to give her any sort of undergarments. She pulled on the pants, sans underwear, and could already feel herself getting grossed out. She put the undershirt on next, followed by the jacket. She shook her arms into the sleeves, feeling very much like a flapping bird.

"Okay, I'm decent, I guess. Although I really think an agency with this kind of money could afford to buy uniforms that fit."

"Cuff her."

Avery's eyes widened once again. One of the men moved towards her, painful looking metal cuffs in hand. She took as many steps back as she could before she ran into the metal table. "This is getting a little old. I haven't done anything."

"Captain Rogers and The Black Widow will be waiting for you in the hangar."

"I'm leaving the ship? I literally just got here."

"The situation is changed." R-something said again. "You need to be off the ship until the threat is handled."

"What situation?" Avery asked, shooting daggers at the man who handcuffed her. "You're going to have to put on my shoes, genius."

"Let's go."

"Where am I going?" Avery asked as the man holding her cuffs bent down to shove her feet into a pair of stiff leather boots. They didn't even bother to be gentle. Avery thought that summed up S.H.I.E.L.D. perfectly. She wiggled her toes around and could already feel the blisters forming. The man stood up and walked her towards the door. "These feel like plastic."

R-something pushed her to move. "Send her medical reports to Director Fury."

* * *

Avery was walked down a hallway, hands firmly cuffed behind her back. She wondered if they thought this was supposed to stop her from using her powers, as that was the only real threat she posed considering how abysmal she was at fighting and self-defense. It was laughable, actually, but she said nothing.

"What hangar are we going to?" Avery asked, peering over her shoulder. "Is it the same one that I wasn't awake for the first time?"

"Move faster. The longer you are on this ship the longer you are putting everyone at risk." R-something said, pushing her back forcefully.

"How am I putting everyone at risk?" Avery asked, interest piqued. "What's happening?"

"I'm not at liberty to say."

"Total bullshit." Avery muttered darkly.

It took them five more minutes to reach the hangar, although it felt longer to Avery. It had been an uncomfortable walk in more ways than one. For one thing, they got the cuffs too tight, making her wrists chaff. For another, everybody they passed by stared at her like she was a serial killer. Lastly, R-something had been rather mum for the remainder of the walk. She had thrown questions at him, both using her powers and not, and still hadn't been able to get much. She came to the annoying conclusion that he didn't know much of anything.

Natasha was waiting for them when they arrived, foot tapping rhythmically. Avery noticed that her uniform fit her like a glove, accentuating everything. Avery looked down at her own self and grimaced. She looked like a shriveled blueberry. "Load her in the plane."

"I'm not cargo, Natasha." Avery said, rubbing her wrists once the handcuffs had been removed. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

Natasha glared at her for even asking. Avery had almost forgotten how much the redhead disliked her. She could feel it when Natasha looked at her, like she was thinking of all the ways in which she might like to kill her or, at least, maim her in some sort of creative way.

"You could make me." Natasha said in a low voice, moving aside to let the other agents lead Avery in.

"I've tried with him, so it probably won't work with you." Natasha took a threatening step towards her at the mere suggestion that Avery would even think of using her powers on her, making Avery shrink visibly. "But I won't."

"And why is that?"

"Because you would give me a red smile from ear to ear just for shits and giggles if I did."

R-something shoved her into a seat inside the plane before she could say anything else to Natasha. He looked down at her for a moment and she thought she saw a bit of anxiety flash in his eyes, but she could have imagined it.

The plane was extremely cold and monochrome. The seat belts were grey, the metal sides were grey, the floors were grey. Everything was grey with the exception of the man standing at the front of the plane. He was dressed obnoxiously, if she was being perfectly honest. Red, white, and blue were apparently in right now. He was staring at her like he thought she was trouble. He was leaning back from her, hands folded behind his back.

"Hi." Avery said after an uncomfortably quiet moment.

When he said nothing she looked down at her feet. She recognized him from the observation galley, with the man, Dr. Banner if she remembered correctly. "Is that other man okay?" She asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "He didn't look very good."

"I…" He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from her.

"Is he not coming with us?" Avery asked, wondering why the bespectacled man had left so suddenly. "He was with you earlier."

"That was before you used your powers on him." Natasha said from her seat in the front of the plane. "You used your powers on him regardless of the risk it possessed to everyone else in this facility. Now we have to babysit you until he can cool down and figure out what happened so that you don't accidentally do it to him again."

"I didn't do anything." Avery snapped.

"Yes you did. Now sit down before you mess up anything else."


	9. Chapter 9

_-Chapter Nine-_

* * *

He was staring again. He hadn't stopped since they boarded the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane and Avery was starting to get paranoid. She absentmindedly rubbed her face, checking for any signs that she might have suddenly developed some hideous skin legion without knowing it. She hadn't, so she knew that the reason behind his staring was the reason behind everyone's staring.

Avery met his gaze and instantly caused him to look away, a slight redness to his cheeks and neck at being caught. She smirked, feeling slightly better that he at least had manners. Avery tapped her fingers on her arms rhythmically, staring at the side of his turned head with interest. He was very handsome, she decided, even if he had a terrible case of the stares and extremely poor decision making when it came to attire. But she digressed.

She picked at a bit of fabric on her arm, fingers playing with the S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia on her bicep and huffed audibly.

Avery didn't even know where they were going. She didn't even know why she was on the plane in the first place.

She realized that she wasn't meant to, but it still annoyed her to no end. She pulled her arms closer to her chest and rubbed them, fully aware that he was once again looking at her. He had been doing that whenever he thought she didn't notice. She wished he would just ask her what he wanted to know, and it was very obvious that he wanted to know something, instead of trying to puzzle it out by memorizing the details of her face in painstaking detail. She shifted in her seat, pulling her legs up underneath herself, and peered back over at Steve.

"So, they called you Captain earlier?" Avery said, clearing her throat thickly when she couldn't handle the weird silence any longer.

He seemed a little surprised that she was speaking to him, but recovered before it was too obvious. "Yes."

More silence.

"Of what?" Avery cringed, thinking that it wouldn't matter anyway. This couldn't get any worse. She felt like she was pulling teeth with him trying to get a conversation out of him.

He stared at her with his very blue eyes and didn't speak for a moment.

"America."

He seemed so serious when he said that she instantly felt bad for laughing. She couldn't keep her giggles contained, however. She snorted and covered her mouth with her hand, unable to properly cover it up. "Oh my god, you're being serious." Avery's laughter petered out awkwardly. The plane was quieter than ever in the wake of her outburst and she looked away from him again, picking at the loose bunches of fabric at her hips. "Is that why you're all spangly?"

Spangly was mild, at best. She wanted to say that it looked like someone ate too many popsicles and then proceeded to vomit on him but that would probably come off as a bit on the rude side. And she was trying to be nice, even if laughing at him was probably getting off to a bad start.

"Yes."

Silence again.

"So what do you do as Captain of America, do you…"

"It's just Captain America." Steve corrected her, an ever so slight smile on his face. "Steve, though would be better, Miss..."

"Avery." He smiled a bit wider before he looked at her face more closely and suddenly looked away, discomfort taking over once again. She rolled her eyes. S.H.I.E.L.D. was obviously gossiping at the proverbial water cooler about her again. She sank down in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. She tried to subtly flex her back and hips without making it to obvious, but she could only move so much in her narrow seat. The metal plane seat was doing nothing in the lumbar support department.

Another complaint she would level at Fury if she ever got the chance to.

"Have you," He paused and shook his head, seeming to rethink his question before he went ahead anyway. "Have you never heard of me?"

"Should I have?" Avery asked.

"That sounded a bit conceded didn't it?"

"A little." Avery smirked at him. Now that he said something, there was a nagging in her mind about the name 'Captain America'. The weird kid who she sat next to in third grade carried a lunchbox with him on it. She knew it couldn't possibly be the same man, considering the one on the lunchbox was from World War II. She remembered because the kid liked to talk to her about how much he wished Captain America was his dad, which turned into him going into detail about how much attention he didn't get from his own dad, which turned into her punching him in the face to shut up. "You were on his lunchbox."

"Pardon?" Steve looked confused.

"Well, obviously not you because that would make you positively ancient, but you were on this kid's lunchbox in third grade. Yea," She snapped her fingers and stood up. She stepped across the plane, stumbling slightly when it dipped, and sat down next to him. "You're outfit is a little more modern than his, but it was definitely the same name."

Steve rubbed the back of his neck. "Everybody I've encountered already knows so I don't really know how to…"Avery looked down at her lap and waited for Steve to continue. She sat on her hands for good measure. "I'm him."

"The _him_ on the lunchbox?" Avery asked slowly, trying not to sound like she was mocking him. "That's sort of impossible."

"I know. I'm still working on believing it myself."

"So you're…"

"I woke up after sev…"

She smiled at him when they both started speaking at the same time, blushing a little. She nodded for him to continue.

"Get ready, Cap. We're less than three minutes away from Stuttgart."

Steve looked at her for moment before he stood up, unable to finish what he was going to say. He was a big guy sitting down, but he positively dwarfed her when he was standing up. She had to stand up as well so she wouldn't feel so tiny, but that didn't help. She barely reached his shoulder, and she imagined that was due to the little heel on her boots.

Steve pulled out a helmet, one that conveniently matched the ridiculousness of the rest of his outfit, and strapped it under his chin securely. Avery noticed the large 'A' emblazoned on his forehead. She wanted to say something snarky about her fondness of the letter he had picked, but decided she would save that for later. He tightened his gloves next before he secured a shield to his arm.

"Get in, get the Asgardian, get out." Natasha said loudly over the sound of the engines. She flipped a few switches and turned in her seat. "Make it fast. We can't afford a scene with this one."

"I think that might be his goal, Ma'am."

Natasha muttered under breath and flipped another switch, which opened the hatch of the plane. Very clean, very cool air, rushed in. Avery's hair instantly messed up and wrapped around her neck and face, obscuring her view of Steve as he left the plane in a blur of red, white, and blue. As soon as he was gone the hatch snapped shut again, leaving Avery sitting in silence that was only broken up by the sound of wind rushing outside the plane and Natasha speaking into her headset quietly.

Avery pursed her lips and wished, once again, that there were windows in the plane so she could watch what was happening with Steve and the Asgardian. She imagined they were fighting, but she really had nothing to go on other than that. She pulled her legs up to her chest, ignoring the way the strap across her hips bit into her skin, and leaned her head against her knees, waiting. She closed her eyes and listened to Natasha in the cockpit, picking at a bit of scuffed leather on the side of her boot. She rubbed her fingernail over the patch, scratching it methodically while she listened to what Natasha was saying.

The plane dipped suddenly, throwing Avery's head into her kneecap with a crack. The seat belt went stiff, keeping Avery rooted in her seat. There was a sharp pain across her hips that radiated upwards to cause a small wave of nausea, but she pushed it down, thinking it would be best if she didn't hurl all over the plane. She glared at Natasha, as if it was her fault, and froze when she saw the red head staring right back at her.

"Stay quiet." Natasha said. Avery fought the urge to point out that she hadn't actually said anything.

"What happened?"

Natasha surprised her by actually answering her question. "A complication."

Avery pressed a hand to her forehead, massaging the spot that had hit her knee, feeling the tenderness of her skin beneath her palm. "What sort of…"Avery trailed off when music of the very loud and annoying variety drowned her out. Her eyes narrowed. Avery didn't even try to understand what was going on anymore. She un-buckled her seat belt and half stood up, making up her mind to try and see out of the cockpit, only to stumble back into her seat when the plane dipped towards the ground again, faster than before. She gave up at that point, sitting down in her seat moodily. She would just have to wait for answers.

* * *

The plane landed and the hatch opened. Avery leaned outwards, curiosity getting the better of her. Steve stepped on the plane first pulling a very peculiarly dressed man behind him. He seemed unnaturally fond of leather and avoiding showers, as indicated by the greasy nature of his jet black hair and malnourished skin tone. Steve shoved the man down in a seat opposite Avery and bent down in front of him to shackle his feet together to match his hands.

The man with the nasty hair looked at her over Steve's shoulder, a slight smirk finding its way onto his face when he made eye contact with her. Avery's skin crawled.

"You brought a date, Cap?"

"Just get in the plane Stark." Natasha called from the cockpit.

Avery had never seen a celebrity up close. And Tony Stark definitely counted as a celebrity. He looked very intimidating in his Iron Man suit, although he was still smirking as he made himself comfortable in the plane. Avery sat down carefully, trying to process the turn this little trip had taken, unable to find an explanation. First Steve jumping out of the plane to fight an Asgardian, whatever that was, then Steve coming back with not one, but two more people, one of whom just so happened to be Tony Stark.

"I am in the plane." He said, looking down at Avery. "She's on the plane as well. And she's bruised. I'm sorry, who is she?"

"What happened?" Steve looked around him, looking for something that might have caused the redness of her skin, she thought. When he found nothing his gaze settled on her. "What happened?"

Avery touched her forehead, but dismissed it with a wave of her other hand. "I hit my knee. Who's that?" She pointed to the man across from her, who hadn't stopped smirking at her since he sat down.

"Who are you?"

"Avery." She said, tearing her gaze away from the creepy man to look at Stark. "I don't know why I'm here." She felt like she needed to say that, for some reason, just to feel less awkward. She glanced at Steve, noticing that he was looking back and forth between both her and Stark. "Natasha won't tell me."

"Tony Stark." He extended a metallic hand for her to shake. She looked at it for a moment, debating for some reason she couldn't quite place, before she grasped it with her own. "You've got a little something..." He gestured to above her eye.

"Do I? I hadn't noticed."

He stared at her, seeming to decide something. "I like her." Stark said to Steve. "I like you." Avery blushed at the assessment and looked down at her feet, causing Stark to laugh.

"Is anybody actually watching the prisoner or are the three of you too busy enjoying each other's company?" Nobody said anything. "Good. Then, we're leaving."

That seemed to pull everybody's focus back. Steve readjusted his gloves and moved to stand behind the cockpit, nodding to Tony in a significant way that clearly meant he wished to speak with him. Tony stomped over to him, louder due to his suit, and leaned close to Steve so that they wouldn't be overheard. Avery was half tempted to go stand next to them, but she knew she wasn't invited. She looked at their backs and sank down in the nearest seat.

The plane was ascending quickly, too quickly. It wasn't pressurized and her head felt thick and foggy instantly. She worked her jaw to avoid her ears popping, but it didn't help much. She reached her hands up to massage her temples, shooting furtive glances at Steve and Tony, straining her ears to hear what they were saying. She didn't miss the way Tony peered back at her after a few moments, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Jumping to conclusions was useless, she knew, but she couldn't help it. She had been more paranoid as of late, for obvious reasons.

"They are speaking about you." Avery whipped her head around. She had completely forgotten about the third man in the plane, which was ridiculous because he hadn't stopped staring at her since they shoved him into the seat. "The man in iron is wondering why you're here."

"Me too." She said, eyes trailing over him.

She wasn't sure if she liked the way he looked. His hair was nasty, and his skin looked like he had just gotten over a stomach bug, but his eyes were sort of nice to look at, if she ignored how manic they were. Then there was the fact that he was wearing an outfit made entirely of green and black leather. That alone was enough to make her not trust him. That and the handcuffs he was wearing.

His smirk made her skin crawl.

She looked away and hunkered down in her seat, making up her mind to ignore him for the remainder of the journey, however long that would be.

"I find that I am curious as well."

She refused to look at him again. She picked at the dirt under her fingernails, scraping it out until they were sort of clean. She realized, a moment too late, that all she had done was transfer the dirt from one nail to another. Stupidly, she started to repeat the process again.

"You are not the same as them."

Perhaps he thought he was telling her some sort of earth shattering news. That she was going to look at him to explain what he meant, but she didn't. She didn't need to be told that she different from the rest of the people in the plane to know it. Rolling her eyes, she turned to look at Tony and Steve like they were the two most interesting men in the entire world.

"I'm making you uncomfortable." Her lip twitched with the desire to say something snarky. She bit her lip and continued avoiding his gaze. "Or perhaps, it is their distrust making you squirm."

"I'm not squirming." She bit back, realizing a moment too late that she had broken the promise to herself to ignore him. "I'm ignoring you."

"And you're doing a wonderful job."

Avery rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over his chest. He was smirking again, or maybe he never stopped, one of his dark eyebrows raised with amusement at the sour look on her face. He seemed very comfortable for a man currently shackled up in hand and ankle cuffs. Avery glanced back at Steve and Tony before she leaned forward a bit.

"You seem chipper, you know, for a man who found himself arrested in the most embarrassing outfit ever." The man didn't even bother to look down at his clothing. He smiled showing his teeth this time, causing Avery to wonder if she had said something he found amusing. She didn't like it when it smiled, even less than she liked it when he smirked. In fact, she wished he would just stop looking at her entirely, let alone smiling or smirking. "Just shut up."

"I haven't spoken, Avery."

"God, you make my name sound like a dirty word." She said cringing.

The flood lights above his head flickered on as the sky outside slipped into darkness. The light made him look even sicker and for a second she considered asking if he needed water or something, but pushed that desire down. He was cuffed for a reason, and while it was S.H.I.E.L.D. doing the cuffing she was inclined to follow their lead. Just this once, in any case.

They slipped back into an uncomfortable silence that Avery was thankful for. Steve and Tony were still speaking to each other in hushed tones up at the cockpit, but they had stopped glancing back at her, which she took to be a good sign. It allowed her to relax ever so slightly, although she still remained guarded and uncertain. Mostly about why she was there, but she had given up on finding out why, for the time being. She assumed they would be getting back to the base soon enough and then someone would answer her endless list of questions. Like what had happened so suddenly to cause her to need to be on this plane, to need to be away from the base, which turned out to be a floating airship, in the first place.

The thought had occurred to her to use her powers to get some answers but she had quickly ruled that out almost as soon as it crossed her mind. They were what got her into the mess she found herself in and she was certain, reasonably so, that the fastest way to get out of it was to stop using them. That was easier said than done, but she was trying, really trying. In fact, it was giving her a headache to concentrate so hard on not using them but she refused to let them go haywire in a plane with a man who looked like he literally repelled shampoo. She could only image the secrets he carried around with him.

Maybe the secret to making people uncomfortable just with one simple smirk.

Even though Avery could see very little out the cockpit window she could tell that it was getting darker. When she glanced between Steve and Tony she could see that the lights from the plane were bouncing off clouds that she didn't think had been as thick before. She tried to peer around Tony's leg, hoping they were getting close to getting back. She was starting to feel claustrophobic in the little metal plane.

There was a loud crack followed by a flash that lit up the inside of the plane like it was daylight. Avery had never been one to be afraid of storms, in fact she liked them quite a bit, but there was something about being stuck in the middle of one thousands of feet in the air that made her uneasy. Especially when they seemed to come out of nowhere. She shifted in her seat and reached for her seat belt subconsciously.

"Scared of a little lightning?"

Avery opened her mouth to respond before she realized that Steve wasn't speaking to her. She looked over at the black-haired man and saw that he was looking up at the top of the plane with widened eyes and an open mouth, like he was frightened, which she found hard to believe.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows."

More lightning crackled, causing the plane to dip again and Avery to buckle herself into her seat. The man across from her wasn't smirking any more, which normally would have made her happy, but now stressed her out. She was just about to ask what was happening when another loud bang reverberated through the plane, louder than all the others before. The plane shook enough to cause Steve and Tony to need to grab onto something to keep from falling over and the man to be knocked backwards in his seat.

"What the…"

Tony snapped his helmet onto his head and moved towards the control panel, causing Steve to scramble to his own helmet and shield that lay stacked neatly next to his feet. He was halfway through slipping his hand into the strap of his shield when Tony opened the hatch, sending an inordinate amount of wind rushing into the plane.

The wind was the least of their problems, however, when a man, dressed just as stupidly as the one in the seat, appeared out of nowhere at the edge of the hatch ramp.

He advanced into the plane, eyes set intently on the man in the seat, completely oblivious to the other people around him. He yanked him out of his seat violently, wrapping one of his massive hands around the black-haired man's neck to pull him back towards the open hatch. Avery realized, maybe a bit too late, that he was planning on jumping with them both. Without a parachute.

"What the hell?"

Her exclamation drew the new man's attention to her for a fraction of a second. Her body tensed up the moment they locked eyes and, for a moment, she felt her control slip.

Just a fraction of a second.

Apparently that was all that was needed for everything to descend into madness. Lightning came flooding in through the hatch and centered on the hammer the man was holding for a brief moment that felt like a lifetime before it ricocheted through the rest of the plane, invading the mechanics of the plane, causing everything to go haywire.

It was quiet, and Avery thought that maybe that was the worst of it, before the plane started plummeting towards the ground.

* * *

**Cool. So I feel like I need to explain my super long absence. I have been dealing with a lot of personal stuff, including school, work, and family, and writing had to be put on the back burner. Additionally, I am planning a study abroad next semester that has zapped up all my free time to prep for. I cannot express how sorry I am to the people who follow this for disappearing suddenly, especially when I promised faster updates. BUT, I am back!  
**

**This part of the story has also been sort of slogging because it feels repetitive with the whole 'Avery knows noting and bad things keep happening that she had no control over' but it is needed. At this point Avery doesn't know any of the other Avengers have powers, which is important for what just happened with Thor and Bruce, so keep that in mind going forward. A main component of the Avengers movie was Fury keeping stuff from the others, so it is a key plot point with Avery. At this point, only Natasha and the other actual agents know anything about Avery. Steve is still in the dark about her. **

**So, in other news. I have been messing around with an Avengers AU that revolves around a zombie apocalypse. I was just wondering if this is something you guys would be interested in. Let me know! **


	10. Chapter 10

_-Chapter Ten-_

* * *

Avery was screaming. Or maybe she only thought she was screaming and she was, in fact, already dead and imagining the whole thing. The feeling of vertigo assaulting her body made her think otherwise and she immediately started frantically clawing at her seatbelt, desperate to get out of her seat before she died in her spot, turned into nothing more than a human pancake.

The plane flipped, sending her head slamming back into the metallic paneling behind the seat with a crunch. Every time she got close to unbuckling her belt the plane would dip, sending things flying at her, knocking her head and shoulders from side to side. She wasn't even aware a plane like this carried so much cargo, but she decided not to think about that too much when there were other more pressing things to focus on.

Such as not dying, for a start.

After what felt like hours, Avery finally snapped open her seatbelt, lessening her panic ever so slightly. As soon as she wasn't strapped to her seat, she flew upwards towards the ceiling of the plane. She threw her hands up to prevent her head from smacking into the top, crying out at the cuts she got on her palms from the rough metal. Now that she was out of her seat, she could see that her situation wasn't much better. There weren't any parachutes she could see and it wasn't like she could fly. She looked around frantically to see if there was anything that could help her, but found nothing. Tony and Steve were gone, that she could see, and the man carrying the hammer had disappeared with the prisoner shortly after the plane stopped working. As far as she knew, she was on her own. She had been wishing to be alone for months. This was karma somehow. She just knew it.

Avery wrapped her bleeding hands around one of the protruding metal beams, using them like monkey bars to move towards the hatch. She decided, without much thought in fact, that she would rather die outside the plane than in it.

Halfway towards the hatch, strong arms wrapped around her stomach from behind, startling her. "Don't let go." The person pulled her away from the ceiling, forcing Avery to shift around in their arms to actually grab onto them as well. She didn't know who it was, but she didn't care, for obvious reasons. She latched herself onto them like a lemur, arms and legs intertwining behind the person's back in a vice grip.

It only took them a few moments to exit the plane through the open hatch. Avery felt like dead weight but she didn't know what else to do beyond holding onto the person for dear life. It was probably Natasha, judging by the size of the hips, but she didn't dare look up to see if she was right. She supposed if they lived long enough to make it to the ground, in one piece most importantly to her, she would see. She half-hoped it wasn't Natasha just so she wouldn't have to deal with the debacle of owing her something in any way, shape, or form. Then again, she shouldn't be picky about the person saving her life. It was in poor form.

Avery peeked over the person's shoulder, watching as they cleared the lip of the plane. The sky above them, or it could have been the ground, spun in front of her like a kaleidoscope. Every time she tried to focus on one thing, they would flip and she would lose sight of what she was looking at, leaving her disoriented and nauseas.

"I need you to pull the chute."

"What?" Avery screamed against the wind.

"The chute!" They flipped again, Avery ended up upside down, staring at the ground that was getting closer and closer at an alarming rate. "I can't reach it!"

"I don't…" She thought she might puke. "I don't know where the pull is!"

"_Find it_!" That was definitely Natasha.

Avery grasped at the pack over Natasha's shoulders, desperately trying to find the little string. She knew they only had seconds, moments, before they would be nothing more than little splats on the ground. Her hands shook horrifically.

"Avery." Natasha actually sounded scared, which made Avery even more terrified. She didn't even know what point of afraid she was at. Hair turning white fear seemed like the right way to describe it, but even that didn't feel like enough. She moved her hand around Natasha's back, desperation making her movements sloppy and fruitless. "Avery, do it!"

Avery squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her body closer to Natasha's, freeing up a bit more movement in her arms. She almost screamed for joy when she felt the metallic charm at the end of the parachute pull hit her arm. She reached her other hand over and grabbed it, yanking it violently.

The whiplash from the sudden change in momentum almost made Avery let go of Natasha. She squeezed her tighter, feeling the tears that had been threatening to spill over finally explode. She buried her face into Natasha's shoulder and cried, from both elation at not being dead and residual panic from what had just happened. If the situation had been any different she would have been mortified at how she was clinging to the red-head. Natasha didn't seem to mind, considering she was holding onto Avery just as tight, although without all the messy blubbering.

"We're going to land soon." Natasha said over the sound of the wind. Avery noticed it had lessened considerably, although they were still falling faster than made her comfortable. "You need to unwarp your legs."

Avery tried to do so for a moment but immediately reattached herself, stronger than before, when she felt her body start to slip.

Natasha cursed in a language that sounded distinctly like Russian and tried to loosen Avery's grip from her, which caused Avery to cling tighter. Avery was thankful she didn't just drop her, which she easily could have. She thought she might deserve it after what had happened up on the plane. She knew it was her fault, although she didn't know why. When she looked at the man holding the hammer everything had exploded and she knew that it was because of her.

Natasha seemed to realize that Avery wasn't going to let go and tried shift them so that she would be able to land with her legs down, although that did very little to lessen their impact. Natasha's feet hit first, causing Avery to slam back first into the ground, taking Natasha with her. If Avery could breathe she would have told Natasha to get off, but she couldn't even manage to get anything out besides a strangled groan.

The plane, or at least part of the plane, landed next, catching on the canopy of trees. The parachute was in shreds from the falling debris, but it could have been worse. That could have been them. Natasha sat down next to Avery, fiddling with the parachute straps. When they didn't pop open, she pulled out a knife and sliced them off manually, muttering angrily to herself the entire time. Avery watched her, sucking in air greedily. She allowed herself a few moments rest before she sat up, using her elbows rather than her hands, and continued to watch Natasha.

The silence between them seemed to stretch on forever, making Avery more and more uncomfortable with each passing moment. She wanted Natasha to say something. She would prefer her yelling at her to the quiet. Her knife glistened dangerously, despite the fact that it was aimed at the parachute and not her.

She slumped back to the ground and looked up at the trees, glancing back at the knife occasionally.

It was quiet and peaceful for a moment before the trees above them groaned, causing Avery to narrow her eyes instantly. Another groan made more leaves spiral down towards them. Something snapped. Karma. This was definitely karma.

"Natasha, move!"

Avery grabbed Natasha around her shoulders and threw their bodies to the side. Her muscles, which had been jarred from their rough landing, strained with the effort of hauling both of their weights. She should have worked out a bit more while she was with S.H.I.E.L.D., but she had only done the bare minimum required of her, out of pride more than anything. She had always been told she was stubborn.

They landed with a thud; Avery's back slamming into a tree. It offered Natasha the leverage she needed to switch their positions. She shoved Avery down with one hand and brandished the knife at her with the other, causing Avery's throat to run dry. She tried to push herself back from Natasha, only to find that the tree was blocking her escape. Natasha moved the knife closer, the tip coming dangerously close to her jugular vein. Avery glanced down at it, wondering how she had managed to go from one deadly situation to another in a matter of moments. She was just lucky, she guessed.

"Natasha." Avery tried to hold her hand up in a placating way. "Please, don't."

The stuck piece of the plane crashed behind them, causing Natasha to jump at the volume it produced. She barely pressed the tip of the knife into Avery's skin, causing a small bit of blood to seep out. Avery's hiss of pain was enough to jar Natasha out of her shocked reverie. Avery took the moment to shove her hand away, not able to look away from her just in case she decided to stab her again.

"You saved my life." Natasha sat back, the knife falling down to her side.

Avery blinked rapidly at the dumbfounded tone in her voice. Of course she had saved her life. The statement was so stupid Avery didn't even know how to respond. "Well, yea."

Natasha seemed uncomfortable with the notion. Rather than say anything else, she stood up, sheathing her knife in her boot. Avery released the breath she had been holding, although she still couldn't bring herself to move out of shock.

"That was close." Tony Stark, face mask still down, landed next to them. He kicked up dust into Avery's face, causing her eyes to immediately start watering. "Anybody hurt?

Natasha glanced at Avery and the tiny cut on her neck, but chose not to comment on it, not that Avery expected her to. Avery reached her hand up and pressed a couple fingers against the spot, assessing the damage. She freaked out at the amount of blood for a moment before she remembered both of her hands were cut. She pulled her sleeves down over both of her hands as she stood up.

"Fine." Avery's voice came out like a squeak. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Fine, we're fine. What part of the plane was that?"

"The hatch. The electrical discharge must have caused it to detach."

The electrical discharged that she had caused. The unsaid part of that sentence hung over them heavily. She fiddled with the ends of her sleeves in a nervous manner and waited for someone else to speak, avoiding looking at either of them directly.

"Do you see any sign of the others?" Natasha asked, fixing the straps of her holsters. Avery must have messed them up when they were falling.

"No." Avery said, feeling no small amount of misery creeping up on her when the realization washed over her. "Have you seen them?"

"Nothing. Sky's quiet."

"Where's Loki?" Natasha was pressing her finger to her ear, trying, and failing, to get communication. She pulled the little black earpiece out and turned it over in her hand. Avery leaned closer, cautiously aware of the fact that Natasha still had her knife. "It's fried." She threw it at the nearest tree, shattering it on contact. That seemed like a little bit of an overreaction, but Avery kept her mouth shut.

"So we can't contact S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Avery asked, taking an immediate step back when Natasha glared at her.

"Are your communications still functioning?" Natasha asked Tony, completely ignoring Avery. He nodded, an action which caused both Avery and Natasha to visibly relax. "Contact them."

"Already have. They're a bit concerned, obviously."

"How long until they can pick us up?"

"They didn't say."

"Shouldn't we try and find the others while we wait?" Avery asked, looking down at the ground in the hope that neither of them would start asking about what had happened in the plane.

"I'll take the air and see what I can find. You two start heading towards higher ground." His face mask lowered and he took off immediately, leaving the two standing in an awkward silence.

The quiet between them extended for far longer than Avery would have liked in Tony's absence. She could feel Natasha staring at her, glaring at her, so she avoided making eye contact enthusiastically. She crossed her hands behind her back and started picking at a few wayward specks of dirt and twigs, ignoring the way it stung her hands. It felt like there were hundreds, which she was sort of thankful for as it offered her a decent distraction. Natasha didn't seem to care about the uncomfortableness between them. She grabbed Avery by the shoulder and started marching off into the trees, dragging her along behind her.

Rather than say anything stupid, Avery kept her mouth shut and gaze firmly planted on the back of Natasha's head. Her boots were not made for this sort of thing and already rubbed something awful, causing her to stumble occasionally.

"Keep up, Gudrun."

The tone of Natasha's voice was one that made the hair on the back of Avery's neck stand up. She sprinted to keep up.

"Do you think the others are okay?" Avery asked, despite her reservations about speaking with Natasha directly. This was the longest time they had spent together and she felt terribly uncomfortable. Their first meeting hadn't gone very well and Natasha hadn't been able to be in the same room without glaring at Avery since. She supposed it was a normal response, considering the first time they had met Avery accidently made Natasha talk about her past.

She still cringed when she thought about the murderous look on Natasha's face.

"Well, they were in a plane crash." The edge to her voice was gone. Avery moved a little closer, still out of the assassin's reach, so that she could hear her better. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Who was that grabbed the greasy guy?"

"The greasy guy was Loki. I thought you knew that." Natasha stopped walking and turned to look at Avery. "The other one was Thor, his brother."

"Brother? Genetics are weird."

Natasha 'hmmd' and started to keep walking, but she decided to stop last moment. "How do you do it?"

"What do you mean?" Avery shoved her hands into her pockets. Natasha was staring at her and for once she could see that the unnatural amount of anger slowly leaving her eyes. That unnerved her enough to cause her to take a hesitant step backwards. Natasha immediately rolled her eyes.

"I'm not going to do anything."

"Are you certain about that?" Avery asked, eyes trailing down to the gun holstered at her hip and the knife strapped to her thigh.

"Stop looking like a puppy that just got kicked."

"You scare me." Avery leaned back against a tree, careful to keep Natasha, and all of her weapons, in her line of sight. When Natasha smirked Avery wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. The small smile, which was altogether alarming, quickly left her face and was instantly replaced by the same look of questioning she sported before.

"So, how do you do it? What happened on the plane?"

"I don't really know, to be honest." She toed an exposed root, thinking about what reasons Natasha might have for suddenly finding Avery and her powers interesting. It wasn't as if she had ever bothered to find out what made Avery tick before. She didn't think Natasha truly cared. She was certain all she saw was a problem, a liability, that needed to be taken care of. Avery glanced down at her feet, debating her options before she decided to play along. "If you have any ideas, you're more than welcome to chime in. Maybe you could tell me why I was on the plane in the first place?"

Natasha was silent and Avery thought that she would be better off not trying to speak to her at all. Avery was just about to walk away when Natasha let out a heavy sigh and started speaking. "I'm only telling you this to prevent any further disasters. If you tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, I will…"

"Kill me? Lock me up in a facility that has a tendency to blow up?"

Natasha was not impressed by Avery's sarcasm, but she kept speaking regardless. "Director Fury decided it would be better if you were kept in the dark about things that you didn't need to know."

"That's worked out really swimmingly, wouldn't you say?" Avery snapped, wishing that that she wasn't still affected by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the way she was. She felt the bitterness rising up inside her and immediately pushed it back, waiting to see what Natasha told her before she got too angry.

"Obviously it isn't." Natasha snapped back.

"I'm tired of this shit, Natasha." Avery said, kicking the root a little harder than before.

"We thought what happened on the Helicarrier was an isolated event, that you and everyone else would be safe if we removed you from the situation. Clearly, that isn't true." Avery snorted derisively and returned her gaze to the ground.

"Obviously. I just caused a plane crash because I made eye contact with someone."

They fell into a silence that felt like it stretched on forever before Natasha finally started speaking again. Her voice wasn't as harsh as it could have been. There was still an edge to it, however, forcing Avery to keep her guard up. "You should have been told what happened with Dr. Banner."

"Yes, that would probably be a good place to start."

"Shortly after you woke up…"

"After being drugged by R-something."

"Agent Rumlow."

"Whatever."

Natasha's lip pursed, although she continued in spite of Avery's interruptions. "After you woke up you weren't in control of your abilities and you made Dr. Banner start to turn into…" She paused thinking her words over before continuing. "His alternate side. We had to remove you from the situation before it got out of hand."

"So you brought me along. What would have happened if I had stayed? What do you mean his alternate side?" Avery fired her questions at Natasha rapidly, unwilling to let the opportunity pass her up.

"Dr. Banner attempted to recreate the experiment that worked on Steve Rogers and was unsuccessful. It had disastrous results."

"Why didn't you just tell me that from the beginning?" Avery felt so irrationally angry at Natasha for a moment she thought about hitting her. She knew that wouldn't help anything. In fact, it would probably make things worse in that she would get punched in the face for even trying. She quelled her desire and turned her anger towards the root, kicking it until the toes in her right foot throbbed. "Is it because you're afraid of what I'm going to do, who I'm going to tell?"

"We had to be, have to be, careful."

"I get that." Avery wasn't an idiot, she knew that there was some logic in their caution around her. "I know you all think I'm a supervillain who likes to twirl my mustache and think about all the ways I can mess things up for you guys, but I've got a newsflash for you. I have no one to tell. I have nowhere to go. When I ran away after the facility accident I didn't have a destination, I was scared so I started running and I didn't really think about it. I just ran."

"We don't understand you. We thought if we observed you we'd be able to figure it out, how it works."

"Sounds like a really solid plan. Nothing bad could possibly happen, right?" Avery was surprised Natasha had let the conversation go this long.

"I'm not going to apologize."

"I didn't think you would." Avery said quietly.

"But we should have told you."

Avery gave a noncommittal grunt and started to walk again before she stopped, standing next to Natasha. "I didn't mean to do it. Any of it." Natasha assessed her, eyes narrowed. Avery noticed, in that moment, that she was only a few inches shorter than her. If they had been out in the real world, she wouldn't even be afraid of such a small person. "I'm sorry." Avery said after a moment of staring at each other. "For what happened when we first met."

Natasha stared at her and Avery thought her expression was on the verge of softening.

"We need to get to higher ground."

That was that, Avery supposed. She didn't think this could be counted as a moment, but it was something. A weird something, but something. Natasha started back up the incline, indicating that Avery should follow with a nod. She started hiking, ignoring the way her toes hurt more than they did before. She supposed that was bound to happen when one takes their anger out on an unmoving tree root. She tried not to limp, or complain for that matter, and continued to hike in silence behind Natasha.

Avery wondered what country they were in as they hiked up the hill. Germany would probably be a good guess, considering they had picked up Loki in Stuttgart, but they could be anywhere by this point. Europe. She settled on Europe in her mind and turned her attention back towards walking and not tripping and falling flat on her face.

The ground was starting to slope more as they got closer to the little plateau. The forest was silent, even though a plane had just crashed, making Avery think, more and more, that her, Natasha, and Tony were the only ones that survived. They should have heard something from the others by then. She turned to look behind her, hoping that maybe she could see something from the spot that the hatch landed, but was disappointed to find that it was already out of sight. The guilt was awful. It felt like someone had inserted a block of ice into her stomach and chest and it was slowly suffocating her.

"Did you hear that?" Avery blinked, almost running into Natasha. She had been distracted by her own guilt and hadn't notice Natasha had stopped walking. "Over there." Natasha pointed towards her left. Avery followed her gaze, focusing as hard as she could on the dark tree line. She strained to see if she could hear or spot what Natasha was talking about.

Nothing. Not even a ground squirrel. It was too quiet for a place that had just had a plane crash and that made Avery nervous.

Natasha didn't seem to feel the same way. She immediately stalked off into the trees, gun held in front of her. Avery had no choice but to follow. She picked her way through the trees, doing her best to keep up with Natasha, who was practically sprinting. Avery only started to hear what Natasha was talking about after a few moments of running. It sounded like people were fighting. There was yelling, shouting, things breaking. They were running down the incline by the time they reached the point where the trees started thin out, Avery wheezing like a chain-smoker. She knew she should be worried there was some sort of conflict happening and they were running right towards it, but she had quite the opposite reaction.

Those sounds meant there was something, someone, alive.

"Could that be them?" Avery called to Natasha.

"Who else would it be?"

She had a point. Avery refused to let herself feel hopeful, however, until she could see that it was them for sure.

They skidded to a halt at the edge of the tree line, both peering out at the scene in front of them. The tree line, which turned out to just be at the edge of a clearing that obviously wasn't naturally occurring, was littered with broken in half and uprooted trees. Natasha bent down behind one of the uprooted trees and almost immediately yanked Avery down with her. Avery waited a moment before she snuck a peek out from behind the tree to see what they were hiding from.

She instantly regretted it when something very large and metal came flying at the spot her head had just been. She threw herself backwards, running into Natasha with a smack.

"What the hell?"

"This is how they solve their problems." Natasha sounded like this had happened before, although Avery failed to see how that was possible. "Typical."

Avery waited for another moment before she decided to take her chances on seeing what was going on again. She laid down on the ground and wormed her way outwards, making sure her body was hidden and only her face up to her eyes was visible. She felt like even that was too much, but she didn't squirm backwards. At least they were all alive. And healthy. At least, healthy enough to fight each other. She watched Tony throw a punch at Thor, landing it right in his jaw. She cringed and wiggled backwards, sitting up so that she could look at Natasha.

"Should we try and stop them?"

"Be my guest."

Avery dared another glance around the tree they were hiding behind and immediately decided against doing it again. Tony fired in their direction, not on purpose she was sure, and narrowly missed hitting her directly in the face. Natasha grabbed the lose fabric of her jacket and hauled her backwards just before she was hit. The wood of the tree they were hiding behind splintered into a million pieces, forcing them both to shield their faces from the debris.

"So we wait." Avery said, blowing out a little bit of air, throwing a glance over her shoulder at Natasha to confirm.

"We wait." Natasha confirmed.

It was another five minutes or so before something interrupted Thor and Tony enough to make them stop. "Hey!" The fighting stopped immediately at the sound of the new voice. "Enough."

Natasha gave it a few seconds to see if they were truly done before she stood up. Avery noticed she holstered her gun, indicating to her that it would be sort of safe to follow after her. She stood up, keeping most of her body hidden behind the mangled tree just on the off chance Thor and Tony decided to resume. She reached a hand down and grabbed one of the larger pieces of fractured wood and held it behind her back. She could feel the rough edges digging into the cut on her palm but ignored it in favor of having something to defend herself with just in case they decided to start throwing punches again.

Steve had positioned himself between Tony and Thor at some point, arms tensed and jaw tight. He was looking around at the decimated clearing, still visibly coiled, ready to intervene once again.

"Are you three done having your pissing contest?" Natasha asked, sidestepping the tree so she could stand in front of the three men. Even though she was substantially smaller than the three of them, there was something about her presence that demanded their attention. "Where's Loki?" Apparently they had forgotten about Loki. Avery snorted at the looks on their faces. She covered her mouth with her hand almost immediately so they wouldn't notice that she was laughing at them. Natasha noticed, despite her best efforts. "That isn't helping." She shot Avery a scathing look. "Stark, find Loki."

"I will not permit this metal man to lay hands on my brother."

"I didn't ask you." Natasha leveled her glare at Thor, silencing any further arguments before he could say them. "Go, Stark." Tony's facemask snapped shut and he took off, kicking up more dirt in his wake. Avery closed her eyes to avoid getting more dust in them, although it didn't do much good.

"How dare you…"

"I'm going to cut you off right there. We can have this little fight later once Loki is back in custody and we aren't stuck in the middle of nowhere without any transportation."

"You are too bold, woman."

Avery knew her mouth was open but she couldn't help it. These people were all crazy, she decided, or suicidal. She gripped the sliver of wood in her hand tighter and shifted on her feet, glancing around to see if Tony was on his way back. She didn't like being trapped in the wilderness with them. It gave her a major migraine just trying to keep her powers under control. She could already feel her temples throbbing. Steve wasn't so bad, and she was starting to think Natasha wasn't either, but she questioned being around Thor, for obvious reasons.

"Are you alright?"

Sometime during her observations of Natasha and Thor, Steve had sidled over to stand next to her. She noticed he looked more nervous to be around her than before. She tried not to take it personally. "I'm fine. You?"

He smiled slightly and nodded, readjusting his shield in his hand. "It isn't the first time I've fallen out of a plane."

"Really? How does that happen more than once? I mean, I feel like the first time would be enough to turn you away from the idea for good."

"You would think." Avery smiled and looked at her feet. He followed her gaze down and, incidentally, the chunk of wood she was hiding behind her leg. "You can drop the splinter."

She looked at the makeshift weapon in her hand and blushed, dropping it instantly. She noticed the blood from her hand had stained it. "Yea, I guess it wouldn't do much good against you or Thor." She said, feeling his gaze on her.

"You think you'd need to use it against me?"

"No!" Avery said immediately, a bit too loudly. Thor and Natasha looked back at them, pausing mid-spat to see what was going on with them. "I mean, yes, but no."

Her little outburst seemed to distract Thor enough to get him to focus his attention solely on her. He was a very large man, with very large biceps that looked liable to snap her in half, should he get the itch to. Her eyes flashed back and forth between his biceps and the hammer in his hand before settling on his face. "You are the woman from the plane." Thor took three large strides towards Avery. Steve immediately stepped in front of her, holding out his arm in a placating way towards the advancing man. "Where did you obtain such of powers?"

"Umm…" Avery bent her knees, trying to be subtle about grabbing her discarded weapon. The motion caught Steve's attention "Yea, about that, I didn't know that was going to happen."

"Who are you?" Thor advanced closer, seemingly oblivious to the glare on the Steve's face. Avery peeked around Steve's hulking form and made eye contact with Thor. She sidestepped him and held her hands out in front, very much aware of how stupid she was being. It was her goal, a very stupid one perhaps, to show him, all of them, that she meant no harm. She almost took a step back when she saw how closely Thor was looking at her, observing her features. "I know your face."

"No, I don't think you do." She kept her hands out, feeling that the placating motion was misplaced.

"Take a step back, Thor." Natasha said from behind him. She was holding her gun, although she wasn't pointing it at him. Not yet. Avery thought that if Thor kept at it, however, Natasha might just change her mind. "We can't afford her losing control again."

"I'm fine." Avery said, shooting a dark look over at Natasha. "Now that I know I need to control it all the time, I won't do anything. No lightning, no nothing. You have my word."

"I think the plane would beg to differ." Tony was back. He landed loudly next to Natasha, depositing a very disgruntled looking Loki at Natasha's feet. His hands were bound behind his back and there was a cut on his face, but otherwise he still looked smug and unharmed. Avery felt the sudden desire to punch him in the face, for some reason that she wasn't quite sure of. She thought he might have that effect on everyone. Tony's mask pulled back with a clicking noise, revealing his less than amused expression. The tone he used when he spoke, however, was still flippant. "Avery, care to share with the class."

Everybody turned to stare at her simultaneously. It was a bit creepy. Avery bit her lip and looked between all of them, choosing to look at Steve, who, unsurprisingly, was the least accusatory.

"I didn't mean to do it." Avery said, hoping that eventually she wasn't going need to preface things about her life.

"Quiet, Avery." Natasha snapped, eyes flashing down to Loki.

"Hold up." Tony walked up until he was standing right next to Avery. She fought the urge to immediately step back. "What can you do?"

She glanced at Natasha once more before she spoke, thinking it best to tell them the truth now, rather than waiting for things to get worse later. "I can make people reveal their secrets. Which in this case, means powers, I guess. I would like to point out, however, that I never knew I could do that."

Silence. Avery expected them to shout at her, say something about staying away from them, but they didn't. She winced, waiting for the inevitable. When the awkwardness stretched on, Avery cracked open an eye. In fact, instead of turning their anger on her, like people always did, Tony rounded on Natasha, anger written on his handsome face.

"Let me guess, this was Fury's idea."

"Director Fury…"

"Is she even an agent?" Tony turned his attention to Steve next. "Did you know about her?"

"I saw what happened with Dr. Banner." There was a bit of regret in his voice. "They never told me anything about what she could do."

"That's because it's classified. Neither of you needed to know."

"Director Fury didn't think we needed to know about her?" Steve folded his arms over his chest. "Someone who can force people to use their powers against their will…kind of a big deal."

"We've never dealt with someone like her before. There isn't a protocol for this. S.H.I.E.L.D. is doing the best it can."

"So, let's make our own protocol." Tony said, taking a few strides so that he was standing directly in front of Avery. "Did you mean to crash the plane?"

"No." Avery said instantly, latching onto this new course. Tony was blaming S.H.I.E.L.D. Avery could hug him. She would have if she didn't think it would instantly make things weirder than they already were.

"Will you do something like that again?"

"No, not if I can help it."

"Good enough for me." Avery smiled brightly at him, feeling the coils in her stomach loosening. "Good enough for you, kid?"

She nodded ardently. "Yes."

"Good, then why don't you ask Voldemort over there where he hid the tesseract?"

* * *

**As always, thank you for everybody who has read, reviewed, followed, and favorited!** **We're finally making some progress into them seeing her as part of the team and that everything isnt her fault. I also wanted to show that Natasha and Avery are going to actually become quite close, but it will be a while before that happens. So stay tuned! and REVIEW! **

**If anybody would be interested in maybe doing a cover image for this story I would be greatly appreciative! I am absolutely rubbish at that sort of thing, so any help would be great! **


	11. Chapter 11

_-Chapter Eleven-_

* * *

Jane Foster truly and genuinely liked Darcy Lewis almost all of the time. She knew people questioned the logic of keeping her around, to her face and behind her back, it should be noted. Scientists, for all their brains and intellect, were some of the worst gossips Jane had ever some across. Darcy knew nothing of real science, or much of political science for that matter, but there was a certain quality about her that kept Jane from finding a new assistant. It had nothing to do with the fact that Darcy knew about Thor and the existence of previously undiscovered realms of inhabitable planets. Jane considered that to be merely a fact. No, she kept Darcy around for entirely different reasons, although when asked she could never seem to quantify it into words.

"Uh, do I need to remind you who I am calling about?" Darcy was faking a British accent. It was so atrocious that even Jane, in her distracted state, could hear right through it. "Dr. Jane Foster."

There was mumbling on the other end of the phone. Darcy scoffed, pulling a face that was both haughty and comical all at the same time. Jane smirked and looked back down at the lab results in her hand, checking them again to make sure what she had found was right. It was. She knew it was, as she was rarely ever wrong about these sorts of things, but it seemed so absurd she had to go over the data again. She had done this a few hundred times and yet it still seemed impossible.

"Who? I'm sorry, did you just ask me who Dr. Jane Foster is?" Darcy lost the accent, although Jane didn't think the person on the other end ever really believed it in the first place. "She's only one of the greatest astrophysical minds of our generation. What's your name?" Another long pause. Jane finally looked up from her papers for good. Darcy was pacing the floor, phone gripped tightly in her hand. When she saw Jane looking at her with a concerned frown she made a thumbs up gesture. Jane was not convinced. "Let me speak to Director Fury."

Mumble.

"Agent Coulson."

Another mumble, louder and more authoritative.

"Anybody besides you."

Jane dropped her papers and stood up, holding her hand out for the phone. She liked Darcy, she truly did, but there were some things better left to more level heads.

"Hello?" Jane heard the person on the other end of the phone sigh.

"_Yes?" _

"I need to speak to someone about something I found in Avery Gudrun's blood."

"_S.H.I.E.L.D. has no record of a person with that name. Like I told your friend, I have no idea how you got this number…"_

"It was given to me by Agent Coulson." Jane snapped, trying to keep the bite in her voice to a minimum. "I have security clearance level 4. You will either help me or direct me to someone who can."

Silence. Jane didn't know if that was good or bad. She glanced at Darcy, only to see the brunette smirking and fanning herself with her hand.

"That was so hot, Jane."

"Shh." Jane hissed, covered the bottom of her phone with her hand.

"_Ms. Foster?" _

"Dr." Jane correct, almost automatically.

"_A plane will pick you up in ten minutes." _

"Thank you." Jane tried to keep the excitement out of her voice. She had just used all the authority she possessed, her big girl voice according to Darcy. She didn't want to sound as excited as a school girl as soon as she got what wanted before the person on the other end hung up. As soon as she was sure it was just her and Darcy she let out a triumphant noise and clapped her hands together. "Get your stuff. A plane is coming in ten minutes."

"Coulson is going to meet with you?" Darcy asked, leaning on one of the more expensive pieces of equipment in the observatory. Jane hurried over and removed Darcy's arms, shooing her towards where they both had their stuff pre-packed on the off chance Jane was able to get through to someone.

"Yes." Jane said, looking around at all the papers she had strewn about. She paused, thinking. "No. Not him. He's probably busy. Maybe. I don't know." She stacked everything up and threw it in the briefcase of hers that had seen better days. "Have you seen my…?"

"By the whirlydoo."

"Thank you."

"So, Janey," Darcy stood up and crept up behind Jane, leaning over her shoulder to look at the rest of the papers Jane was packing up. "I've been meaning to ask you."

"Eight…seven minutes Darce."

"I know, I know. Anyway, I haven't asked mostly because I've been too busy scoping out the science babes here, but I have to know."

"Yes?"

"Aren't you an astrophysicist?"

"Yes, Darcy, what are you getting at?"

Darcy pulled on her shoes, which she had kicked off the moment they got into the borrowed space, and fixed her with a very confused look. "The blood samples. That's biology right?"

"Technically, yes." Jane stopped what she was doing and looked at Darcy, waiting for her to get to the point. "But I took a special interest in this case."

Darcy went over to Jane's leather bag and pulled out the papers she had been pouring over for weeks. The files were thicker now that Jane had thought to add the third sample. It all looked like nonsense to Darcy, but Jane seemed to think she had found something extremely important.

"Does S.H.I.E.L.D. know you have the genetic sample from Thor?" Darcy asked, flipping the papers open to the last page.

"No." Jane pulled on her coat, fixing the sleeves and straightening her shirt underneath. That was her professional coat, the one she wore to make her seem older. "No they don't."

"Is that allowed?"

"Probably not."

"It's kind of creepy, you know, using his hair."

"Shut up." Jane blushed and looked away, pulling her hair into a neat bun. "The plane's probably here."

Darcy nudged Jane with her elbow, although she didn't smile at her like she usually did. Darcy's mocking smirk fell. "He'll come back, you know."

"I know." Jane said, her voice taking on the mournful sound that Darcy did her best to avoid. "At least, I think. He said he would. I don't know." Jane was babbling, causing Darcy to put her hand on her shoulder and squeeze. "This isn't about him. Not really. This is about Avery and what I found in her blood."

"You mean, what you found in her blood that matches what you found in Thor's hair, which is still totally stalkerish, by the way."

"Yes. Are you ready to go?"

"Yep!" She popped the 'p', which she knew Jane hated, and smirked at her. "Let's go tell S.H.I.E.L.D. the good news. They've got an Asgardian coming to dinner."

* * *

Loki blinked four times in the last twenty minutes. Avery knew this because she had been sitting across from him the entire plane ride, thoroughly uncomfortable with the way he constantly stared at her. She tried turning the table and staring right back at him. It wasn't really working and now she wished she hadn't tried in the first place.

Avery crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from Loki, her gaze accidentally landing on Thor, who was standing vigilantly above his brother. He caught her eye and immediately opened his mouth to say something, to which she responded by suddenly finding the back of Steve's head to be quite fascinating. She had already exhausted her mental analysis of all the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents peppered around the plane, leaving her with very little options of distraction.

The pilot told them that they would be back at the Helicarrier before long, but would not say anything else beyond that with Loki present, not that it would have made things any easier. In Avery's mind it already felt like it was taking forever, as she thought she was liable to suffocate from all the tension at any moment.

Avery couldn't help but find it curious, and borderline hypocritical, that they wanted her to use her powers on Loki. In the thirty second conversation Avery had managed with Natasha before she was silenced with a well-practiced glare, they didn't see fit to tell her what she was looking for. Tony had mentioned something about a tesseract before Natasha shut him down, but Avery didn't even know where to begin with that sort of thing. Truth be told, she probably couldn't even pronounce it in a pinch.

She was trying not to be too antagonistic, as that was usually met with hostility she couldn't keep up with, but the longer she sat in the plane, the longer she was in an enclosed space with Thor staring at her and Loki smirking, or planning his next meal, she wasn't sure, the more irked she felt. She was already digging her fingernails into her palms to keep concentrated on not using her powers again. She didn't think it would turn out very well if S.H.I.E.L.D. kept her in the dark about yet another thing. Besides, she was sort of fond of the idea that Loki was being considered more of threat than her. He was the one in cuffs, after all.

She wasn't overly surprised or offended at the silence she was greeted with every time she asked a question. It was their M.O.. Mildly irksome, granted, and borderline repetitive, yes, but she was used to it. Her annoyance was mostly stemming from a lack of sleep and food. There was still a hitch to her muscles, a soreness that she couldn't shake from the medication and falling from a plane did nothing to help.

Natasha and Tony were stationed at the front of the plane, just behind the cockpit, whispering furiously back and forth. Avery had given up on trying to hear what they were saying. Steve, however, served as the perfect excuse for her to stand up and move away from Loki and Thor and their line of sight, or as much as possible in the small space.

She took a moment to get her bearings and walked over to him, smiling slightly as a greeting. He seemed tense, although he still returned her polite gesture. He turned so that his back was to the squabbling pair he had previously been listening to and folded his arms over his chest. He had the decency to lean down a little bit so that they could speak easier and Avery was struck by what he had said earlier, about being so old, although he didn't look it. It was the politeness that was weird. It was so rare, Avery found she was unsure of how to respond to it.

"He hasn't said anything since we got on the plane." Steve observed, simultaneously shooting a glare at Loki and saving Avery from thinking of how to strike up a conversation.

She glanced back at the black-haired man and noticed his reaction was not that of intimidation, but glee. Avery pursed her lips and turned back, feeling slightly unwell knowing he was looking at them like that.

"He's a creepy son of bitch, isn't he?"

Steve nodded, taking the moment to look at her a bit more closely. While it had bothered Avery the first time he had done it, when compared to Loki and Thor, she found she didn't mind so much. "They want you to interrogate him."

"I figured." Avery shrugged and instantly regretted it, as it made her muscles spasm. "Is that what those two are arguing about?" She sighed and focused down at her feet. They were covered in dirt from their little detour in the woods and she could feel that the blisters were on the verge of popping. Shifting her weight back and forth, wincing each time, she looked back up. "It seems like a bad idea, considering, but they probably won't listen to me."

An odd expression twisted his features, like he wanted to ask her something but thought better of it before he could say it. He looked away, scratching the back of his neck.

"You can ask." Avery said.

"It's not my business."

"Ask. I don't mind."

"When did you find out you could…" He trailed off, unsure of whether or not he should continue. He seemed to think he was wading into unwelcome territory, but Avery say anything to confirm.

"When I was seven, about." She moved a little closer, very conscious of Thor and Loki trying to listen in. She lowered her voice and continued. "One day it just came out of nowhere and it's been getting stronger and more annoying ever since."

"How old are you?" Steve asked and then immediately tried to backtrack. "That's really none of my buisness, I'm sorry."

"How old do you think I am?"

"That's a trap."

"Not really." Avery shrugged, smirking at bit. "What do you know about him?"

"Loki? Not much. Both he and his brother Thor visited earth in New Mexico."

"With Jane Foster."

"You know more than I than I do, then." Steve said, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"Not much." Their conversation was starting to draw the attention of more than Thor and Loki. Natasha leaned back, arching her eyebrow. Tony peered around her side, looking between Avery and Steve with an amused look on his face that Avery didn't quite understand. He waggled his eyebrows and winked, causing both Avery and Steve to roll their eyes simultaneously.

"What are you two crazy kids talking about?" Tony asked, sidestepping a very perturbed Natasha. "Well one of you is a kid, the other is a nonagenarian."

"He seems too happy." Avery said, ignoring the jab at Steve, sensing that if someone didn't move the conversation along the tension would only keep building. "Doesn't he?"

"He is smirking too much for a man who just got his ass handed to him, yes." Tony agreed, looking at Loki for a moment before he looked down at Avery. "Crazy idea, and let me explain for a moment before you start arguing, but maybe you could find out why. Just a thought."

"Stark, we talked about this." Natasha said quickly.

"You talked. I ignored. Anyway, Avery, why don't you take crack at it?"

"Why don't you take a crack at shutting your mouth?" Natasha snapped, a seething look on face that made Avery's skin crawl. "We're not having this argument anymore. She's not doing anything right now, so you can just forget that snarky little comment you were going to make and sit down."

"I wasn't going to say anything. Did it look like I was going to say anything?" Tony asked Steve and Avery, a feigned look of innocence on his face. It didn't suit him. They glanced at each other and Avery noticed that Steve's jaw was clenched so tightly the muscle was showing.

"This isn't productive." Steve said, an authority in his voice that surprised Avery. She supposed it shouldn't be so shocking. He was a captain, after all. "And they can hear us."

"Is that supposed to intimidate me?" Tony asked. Avery thought it was meant to sound threatening, and it did, but there was a flippant quality to his tone, the sort that she thought he might have perfected after years of practice.

"It's supposed to make you take this seriously." Steve snapped, drawing himself up to his full and, admittedly, impressive height. "I can see that's a problem for you."

Avery glanced back at Loki and Thor, picking at her fingernails nervously. Loki, who had never bothered to hide his amusement, was leaned forward, listening to them intently. Thor moved closer to them, mirroring Steve's posture with his thick arms crossed over his chest. They were almost the same size. Tony was too, in his suit. Avery fought the urge to take a few steps back and distance herself. The desire burned deep in her stomach, flaring up like it used to when things got bad.

She had become a professional at running away. It was a skill she needed to perfect when she figured out that her powers caused problems wherever she went. It got worse once she was on her own, when there was no one to come up with reasonable enough lies to stay in town.

Her mother was so good at lying and she was so terrible at it. She missed her quite suddenly and completely. The feeling assaulted her so quickly she didn't know what to do with it. She picked at her nails more erratically, finding a bit of skin next to her cuticle and pulling at it until she felt a little prick of pain. She could feel the pressure behind her eyes and squeezed her hands together until they were white. Losing control wasn't an option. Not again.

"Avery?"

"What?"

"You spazzed." Tony said, giving her a very odd look. "You okay, kid?"

"Oh, sorry." Avery could feel how hot her face was. She touched her cheek, trying to be subtle, and turned away from the other three. "Maybe we should talk about them in private?" Avery suggested, trying to put the attention back on what they had been talking about before she spaced out. "When they can't overhear us."

Thor, who seemed to have grown tired of hearing them gossip right in front of them, strode towards them, a thoroughly put out expression on his face. "I have no ill will towards you and your people, why do you bicker like hens as if I cannot hear you?"

"We know you can hear us. This is the cool kids table though, so no drama geeks allowed. Sorry, i didn't come up with the rules."

"Hold on, Stark." Steve held out a hand, stepping out so that he was in front of the other three. Thor eyed him up and down, eyebrow raised. "We can't undervalu…"

"We're five minutes out." The pilot cut across their conversation, effectively ending any sort of discussion, meaningful and useful or not.

Natasha walked over to Loki, sneering at the audacity of him smirking up at her, and pulled out a pair of intimidating looking handcuffs from her belt. She waved them in front of his face. "Up."

"I was under the impression mortals were fond of using the word 'please'." Loki made even the most simple of words sound like there was some sort of hidden meaning to them, like they were a threat.

"You were wrong." Natasha grabbed Loki's arm and twisted, pulling him to his feet. She brought his arm up behind his shoulders like a chicken wing, squeezing his hand until it turned white. Something cracked in his arm and Avery tried not to show that she was both happy Natasha was so scary, and turning it around on someone else for once, and disgusted by the noise. "Any questions?"

"You have made your point inescapably clear, Agent Romanov."

"Good." Natasha brought his arm down behind his back and cuffed his hands together. She pushed him forward until he was in the middle of the plane, nodding at the two armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents positioned on both sides of the hatch. They took Loki by the arms and pushed him forward until he was at the opposite side from the rest of the group. He shot a very amused look over his shoulder before the agent shoved his head back to face forward. Thor was the only one who made a sound of protest.

"Miss Gudrun, you're next." One of the other agents stepped forward, holding out a very ominous looking metal cuff. It wasn't like the ones Loki wore. It was larger, more robust, with a humming sound that didn't seem quite right. The agent held it aloft, gesturing for her to come closer. She didn't move.

"What is that?"

"Director's orders."

"Why is it buzzing?" Avery asked, hiding her hands behind her back without even thinking about.

"Can I see that?" Tony plucked it out of the agents hand before he could receive an answer. He flipped it over, toying with the little knobs, tinkering with it in a way that Avery was sure he wasn't supposed to. "Compact electrical impulse generator, designed to incapacitate, not kill."

"That's for me?"

"I don't know anything more than what the director told me." The agent seemed like he was going to pee himself under all the scrutiny of the people on the plane.

"She's not wearing it." Tony said, dropping it back into the hands of the agent.

"Sir…"

"Something bad happens I'll knock her out."

"That's what the cuff is for." The agent glanced over at Natasha with an almost desperate look on his face. Avery didn't think he looked much older than her. She almost considered putting the cuff on just to cut him some slack and relieve him of all the staring the others were doing. Steve grabbed the cuff from the agent and held it up to his face, turning it over similar to the way Tony did, although Avery had the distinct impression he had no idea what he was looking at. "It safely incapacitates her without the possibility of," He paused when he saw the look on Tony's face. "Head trauma."

"Cool trick." Tony plucked the cuff out of Steve's hand. "Finders keepers." He crushed the cuff in his hand and threw it over his shoulder, narrowly missing hitting Thor in the face. The blond man stepped to the side, his seemingly permanent scowl deepening. Tony completely ignored him. "Avery, remember our little chat?" Avery nodded quickly, causing Tony to smile. "Then we're good."

"Sir, I don't think the director will…"

"Leave Fury to me." Tony waved his hand flippantly. "Wait a second, how old are you?"

"24."

Tony scoffed and turned back to the others. "I didn't know S.H.I.E.L.D. contracted out to kids."

Natasha, visibly annoyed by Tony, shoved past him and moved to the hatch of the plane. It shuddered for a moment as it landed, bouncing up and down briefly before it stilled. Avery expected the hatch to open immediately. When it didn't, she looked around, waiting for someone to move. "Everybody needs to put on masks."

Avery was handed a face mask attached to a small oxygen tank. She strapped it on, breathing in deeply to make sure it worked. She glanced back at the other three, noticing how both Thor and Tony refused the masks they were offered. The hatch opened, pulling all the air out of the plane. Avery breathed in deeply again, hands pressing the mask to her face. Despite the rush of wind coming in, Avery could still hear the sounds of Thor and Natasha arguing as they led Loki inside.

"I'm guessing the honeymoon's over for those two." Tony smacked Steve on the shoulder and didn't seem perturbed when Steve shouldered out of his grasp. "Let's go. I'm tired of wearing this suit. Maybe they have snacks."

He left Avery and Steve standing alone in the now empty plane. Steve let out a sigh through his mask and came to stand next to her. She noticed he didn't look as ridiculous as she felt wearing the mask. She scratched the edge and looked at her feet, leaving their metallic breathing as the only sound in the plane.

Sensing a bit of tension building, Avery blurted out the first thing that came to mind and regretted it instantly. "I am your father."

"What?" Steve looked back at her, confusion clearly written on the parts of his face that weren't obscured by the mask.

"It's a movie. Star Wars." Avery spoke quickly. "You know what, never mind." She walked down the hatch ramp quickly, avoiding looking at him like her life depended on it. "I wonder if they have those snacks Tony was talking about."

They were intercepted as soon as they walked inside. The agent, a much older man who looked like he wanted to be there about as much as Avery, held out his hands for the masks. Avery smiled awkwardly at him, which he didn't return, and walked down the steps he was pointing to. They were long and metal, leading further and further down. Into the belly of the beast, she thought to herself with a smirk. It was oddly thrilling walking around without an escort. She could do anything. She could run her nails down the wall and scratch it to hell. She could clean her boots on the edge of the step.

Maybe that's why they kept her guarded at all times. They knew she was secretly passive-aggressively rebellious.

Avery quelled the desire to turn right around and walk right back up the steps when she saw Director Fury waiting for her at the bottom. Steve stepped up behind her, blocking her even further from leaving.

"Gudrun."

"Nick, always a pleasure."

"I heard about the little mishap on the plane." He was not amused. His one eye was narrowed and his forehead vein seemed to be more prominent that usual. "Captain, the others are waiting in the command center."

Steve sidestepped Avery and started to walk down the brightly lit hallway before he stopped and turned back to look at her. She wished she could mentally communicate with him and tell him not to leave her alone with Director Fury, as she was about to receive the verbal ass-chewing of a life time. She almost whined when he continued to walk down the hallway and out of sight.

"I was told you were improving." Director Fury motioned for her to follow him. He did not walk the same way Steve had gone, leaving Avery to look that way longingly. She relished being alone with Fury almost as much as she relished her time with Natasha. Actually, that could applied to everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. except for maybe Clint Barton, who had been suspiciously absent for quite some time. She should ask about that. "Are you listening to me?"

Director Fury stopped walking causing Avery to practically run into him. "Yes. Something, something, something, improving, something, something."

"So, you weren't listening."

"No."

"I'll make it clear enough for you to understand then." He opened a door to his left and led Avery inside. He closed it behind him and gestured to the table in the middle of the room. It was surrounded by three chairs, padded chairs she noticed with happiness, and a pitcher of water and a box of donuts. She rushed over to them and grabbed the nearest glazed one she could find, shoving it into her face without much thought. "I don't like you being here."

She swallowed thickly and sat down in the chair. "Donuts go with milk."

"Water."

"I can see that."

"I don't like you being here, but that doesn't mean I can ignore your usefulness." Director Fury took the seat across from her and set down a file on the table in front of her. "Read."

Avery was hesitant to open it. The last time Director Fury had shown her a file, it was hers and she didn't like the outcome. "This doesn't contain papers that say I'm going to a federal prison or something does it? Because, if so, I'm sorry about the milk comment."

He rolled his eyes, and somehow the motion seemed even more sarcastic and patronizing when he did it. He flipped open the file himself and pushed it towards her. "Loki, son Of Odin…"

"As in?"

"Yes, that Odin." Director Fury pointed to a grainy picture papercliped to the manila file. "He used a portal created by the tesseract to enter an underground science facility. Before stealing the tesseract he killed all of the guards in the room except one and took Clint Barton hostage."

"He looks kind of sickly in this picture. How did he take Clint hostage?"

"That's one of the things you are going to find out."

"Oh." Avery sat back in her seat, reaching for another donut. It was comforting, being able to eat, and gave her something to focus on for a brief moment. She still wished they had milk.

"I don't like this any more than you do." He flipped one of the pages and tapped. "This is the list of the names of the people he's killed in the last two days. Eighty in total."

"Eighty?" Avery chocked a bit on her donut. "Wait, two days? I was at the facility, wasn't I? In the desert?"

"You were being housed in different part, yes."

Avery rolled her eyes and whipped her hands on her S.H.I.E.L.D. issue pants. "Great. So, you're actually trusting me to do this?"

Director Fury laughed and shook his head. "No, absolutely not. We have no other choice."

"This is a really bad idea."

"Yes it is."

"Is there anything else I need to know?"

"We need to know where the tesseract is." Director Fury stood up. "And we need you to find it. Agent Romanoff will be in shortly to escort you to the prisoner. Until then I suggest you familiarize yourself with the situation."

"This is bad, isn't it?" Avery asked, looking down at the picture of Loki and back up at him. "What's going on with Loki is serious."

"Yes, yes it is." The realism was oddly refreshing.

"I'm sorry you have ask me for help."

His eye twitched. "I am too. But we have no other choice, so let's make the best of this. Read." He pointed down at the file and turned around to walk back to the door.

"Have somebody bring me milk."

"The donuts are the extent of my kindness." Director Fury said, opening the door.

"That's only because it's illegal not to feed me."

"Unfortunately."

"So rude." Avery flipped through a few of the pages of the file. There wasn't much there. There were a few pictures of small town and one picture of Thor, from a distance and taken from what looked like a security camera. The list of people Loki killed was a few pages long. She didn't want to look at that page longer than she had to. The last pages were about the tesseract. It looked like a glowing block of ice. Avery tried not to be too unimpressed. "This is the tesseract?"

"Yes." Director Fury stepped out of the room, leaving her blissfully alone for half a moment before he came back in.

"What?"

"Don't even think about doing what you did on the plane to this aircraft."

"I wasn…"

"Read." He was gone again.

"So, so rude."

Still, she had donuts and she was blissfully alone for the first time in months. While it wasn't the exact scenario she would have liked, she couldn't deny the change was nice. And she wasn't handcuffed. Baby steps were probably all she could hope for at this point. She did crash a plane, after all. That tended to be frowned upon in all circles, secret government agency or not.

* * *

**Hello! Thank you so much for all the reviews on the last chapter! It meant so much to hear from all of you. And such nice things as well. You guys spoil me. I'm super stoked for the next chapter! Think Loki and Avery, head to head. Exciting stuff. :)Does anybody know how to make cover images? I need one for this story and I am pretty abysmal at it.  
**

**Also, a quick side note. A few people have commented saying they thought i had abandoned this. I just wanted to clear something up. I will NOT abandon this story. Updates are a little slow because this story involves a lot of planning on my part because it has a much large plot than just whats in the Avengers movie. Plus, I am working on my LOTR and Hobbit stories, which are also super long. In addition, I am currently studying abroad so my writing time is pretty limited. I wish I could do it faster, and eventually, when I'm home I'll be able to, but right now this is the best I can do without making any false promises. Sorry. **

**But, as always, thank you all for the fantastic support. REVIEW!**


	12. Chapter 12

_-Chapter Twelve-_

* * *

Avery tapped her fingers on the table rhythmically, chowing down on another donut. She had flipped through all the pages in the folder about a hundred times, pretending as if it meant anything to her, just on the off chance they were watching her with some sort of camera. She threw in a few contemplative 'hmms' for good measure and occasionally stroked her chin. She had seen that in spy movies.

She was an idiot.

There was an interesting bit about an eight-legged horse that she made a mental note to use if Loki pissed her off too much, which she considered to be a very real possibility. Avery didn't buy it and she thought it might have been slipped in by a disgruntled S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with a mind to be spiteful. Still though, she didn't think a guy like Loki would take too kindly to the accusation that he liked to turn into a lady horse for giggles and give birth to deformed foals in his free time.

"What are you doing?" Avery jumped, dropping the folder on the table just as she got to a particularly juicy tidbit involving a lady named Sif and her hair. Her half eaten donut hung out of her mouth and a few stray crumbs tumbled to the table. "Very ladylike."

Natasha closed the door behind her, raising an eyebrow at the number of missing donuts. Avery glanced back down and felt embarrassed for a half a moment before she remembered how long it had been since she had eaten and how stressful her day had been. She shoved the last bit of food into her mouth, making sure to keep eye contact with Natasha, and licked her fingers for good measure, before she reached for another. She, in her quest to maintain eye contact with Natasha, missed the plate and grabbed at thin air for a solid thirty seconds.

An absolute idiot. She sighed audibly and scowled at the offending donut like she suddenly discovered it was poisonous.

"You've read everything?"

"None of this is making any sense to me." Avery admitted, feeling no shame about that little fact. She assumed that was why Natasha was there, to explain just exactly what was about to happen. "How much of this myth stuff is true?"

The red-head took a seat across from her, back ramrod straight, and placed her hands on the table. Avery glanced down at them and noticed her nails were manicured and sharp enough to gouge someone's eyes out. She was both very impressed and horribly alarmed. "Not much. I don't even know how much Thor and Loki know about their own stories. Loki will know enough to exploit it, I think, but other than that probably not much."

"So I shouldn't mention the whole horse thing?"

Natasha smirked and shook her head.

"Cool. I'm going to ask anyway, 'cause I have to know."

"I'm here to talk you through it." Natasha said, pulling the file towards her. "Director's orders."

"So, I just go in and ask Loki about the tesseract? If he doesn't tell me, then I use my powers?"

"Essentially, yes."

"Should be fun."

"He's dangerous, Avery."

"I know. Fury told me about Clint." Avery said, gauging her reaction. It was probably dangerous territory to be entering, but she couldn't help but be curious. She glanced down at the nails, talons, once again and thought for a moment if she should really be going down that road. She always understood that they were close, however, so Natasha was as good a source as any about Clint. Natasha's face twitched. "Are you okay?" They looked at each other, neither saying anything for a moment. "You know what, never mind. It's not my business."

"You aren't even tempted to you use your powers to find out?" Avery knew that Natasha was simply being nasty for the sake of being nasty after her comment about Clint. She didn't let that bother her enough for it to show on her face.

"No."

Natasha pursed her lips and leaned forward, lacing her fingers together under her chin. "I can't figure you out."

"And that bothers you?"

"Very much."Avery leaned forward as well, pushing the donut plate away before she could eat any more. She already had the strong inkling that she had eaten too much, if the gurgles in her stomach were anything to go on."If I had your powers I would use them all the time."

"You tried to kill me when I did it to you the first time we met." Avery reminded her carefully, hoping to avoid bringing up any sort of latent conflict.

"Which is why I can't figure you out."

"I'm confused." Avery said, feeling a bit disgruntled by this. She never really felt like she had the upper hand with anybody here, but at the moment she felt like she was being backed into a mental corner.

"You have all the power, yet you actively avoid using it." Natasha said slowly. Her blue-green eyes flashed and Avery immediately leaned back. "

"I've learned over the years that most of the time, all of the time actually, the stuff I find out isn't worth it."

"You couldn't possibly know if someone's secrets are worth it or not."

"I have enough experience." Avery said.

"In the foster system?"

"You read my file?" Avery asked and then realized it was the stupidest question she could ask. "Right, sorry, of course you did."

"It must have been hard for you, experiencing your powers without anyone there to help you with them. They must have been especially hard to control during puberty."

"I wasn't alone." Avery said, pulling her hands off the table. She placed them in her lap and squeezed them together. She knew Natasha could see she was upset, but she didn't want it to be blatantly obvious.

"Your mother died when you were thirteen. You have no other family, no father was put on your birth certificate, so it's safe to assume you had no one else to help you."

Avery dug her nails into the back of her hands, jaw clenched and eyebrows furrowed. Natasha turned her head sideways and looked Avery up and down. She stared at her arms, seeming to be able to see through the sleeves to her tensely flexed muscles.

"I did alright." She didn't, but that was truly none of Natasha's business. "I don't like to talk about it, though, so if we co..."

"You were in fourteen different homes in four years, with multiple families claiming you were emotionally disturbed."

She had never heard that before. It was probably the Grant family. They had hated her. They had two sons, Garret and Gus, and both of them had claimed Avery liked to keep dead animals under her bed. She didn't. They just said that after she accidentally made them reveal that they were the ones that had stolen their mother's money to buy about a pound and half of weed. They fancied themselves some sort of drug empire in the making. Avery fancied them a pair of idiots. Regardless, she was only with them for about two weeks before they kicked her out.

"I never heard that." Avery admitted, cautiously.

"Does that bother you?" Natasha asked, digging, prodding, nudging. Avery narrowed her eyes.

"What are you doing?" She asked. She stood up and started walking around the room, looking for the camera. There had to be a camera. There had to be a reason for Natasha asking her these questions, although Avery had no idea what those were. "Is Fury watching? Are the others? Is this like the Truman Show or something?"

"I'm not doing anything." Natasha stood up as well. She moved to stand in front of Avery, looking her up and down once again. She leaned forward and stared long and hard into her eyes, causing Avery to immediately step back as the other woman invaded her space. "You're upset."

"You're upsetting me." Avery said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're pupils are dilated." Natasha grabbed her arm and pulled her sleeve back, pressing two fingers to her wrist, completely ignoring Avery trying to pull her arms back. "Pulse elevated, skin clammy."

"Could you stop touching me?" Avery yanked her hand back and cradled it to her chest. "Weirdo."

"Loki will rile you up the same way."

And then it all made sense.

"Oh come on, that's what this was?" Avery asked, instantly relaxing once she realized what was going on. "You jerk." Without even thinking she threw out her hand and punched Natasha lightly on the shoulder. Her mouth dropped open in horror, hand frozen in midair. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I just got caught up in the moment. Please don't kill me."

Avery winced, closing her eyes, waiting for Natasha to knock her flat on her ass. When all she did was laugh, Avery stepped back even more, cracking open only one eye.

"What is that?"

"I'm laughing."

"That's what your laugh sounds like? That's horrifying." Avery said, sidestepping her to go back to the table. "That must make babies cry and grandmothers weep for a time when the world was a simpler place."

Natasha raised an eyebrow, looking her over once again. She seemed satisfied, for the time being. "If you can keep your cool like that with Loki, you should be fine."

"Should be?"

"I'll be there, just in case."

"That almost sounded comforting." Avery grabbed the file and tucked it under her arm. She straightened her clothes and ran her free hand through her hair, taking note of how tangled and ratty it was. She raked her fingers through the greasy strands before she gave up and twisted it up into a knot. She paused when she noticed Natasha staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing." She said quickly. Avery believed her briefly before she narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"It isn't nothing."

"Do you know what you're going to ask Loki?" Natasha asked, expertly, or not so expertly considering Avery picked up on it immediately, changing the conversation.

"The tesseract." Avery said, running her hands over her face. She pinched her cheeks to bring back a little color, but she didn't think it helped make her appear any less exhausted looking. "And Clint."

"The tesseract." Natasha confirmed, moving towards the door. Avery did not think Natasha was going to say anything about Clint, but she knew that if she could, she would ask. She placed her hand on the handle, turning back to look and see if Avery was following her. She raised her eyebrows when she saw her still standing next to table.

"Oh, wait, we're doing this now? Like now, now?"

"No, next week."

"Wow, I'm coming." Avery rushed over, almost tripping over her own feet. Natasha held out an arm, blocking her from stumbling awkwardly into the hallway for a moment so she could look at her directly in the eye at close proximity. Avery assumed it was to intimidate her one last time before they let her loose.

"Gudrun," Natasha paused and immediately restarted. "Avery, you can't freak out in there. You need to stay calm."

Avery ducked underneath her arm and stepped out into the hallway, glancing around to see if anyone else was watching them. A few agents were stationed by the door at the other end of the hallway. They tensed when they saw her and Avery couldn't help but pull a face.

"I'm not going to freak out, Natasha." Avery said, glaring at the taller S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with vigor. "Is it that way?" She pointed towards the door the agents were guarding. It had to be important, if they were guarding it. "I'm not going to freak out." Avery said it again, more to herself, once Natasha started leading her down the hallway. She wasn't going to. Maybe if she told herself it over and over again, it would become fact.

* * *

They were keeping Loki in an isolated area. The walls seemed thicker and the number of guards increased as they went deeper into the belly of the ship. The number of people watching her made her uncomfortable, but she managed to keep her head held high. Natasha stopped once they reached a sliding door at the bottom of a large staircase. She pulled Avery to the side, leaning closer so that no one would be able to hear them.

"He will try and get into your head. You can't let him."

"I'll do…"

"Avery, we'll be watching the whole time. If something happens we'll come get you."

"Aw, Natasha, I didn't know you cared so much."

"Shut up."

"I'm sorry. I'm obnoxious when I'm nervous."

"What did I just say about being nervous?"

"Maybe you should stop making me nervous, Natasha. Ever think about that?" Natasha grimaced, apparently not convinced.

Avery smiled despite the lack of faith Natasha had and ducked through the door.

The room was large and drafty, with walkways on all sides. There was a control panel directly to her left, along with a rather large cache of weapons and things that looked like they were for subduing. The middle of the room was the most interesting. There was a large circular glass cell, supported by massive metal hooks and thick steel cables that were wider than both her calves combined. Loki, who seemed extremely unsurprised to see her, stood up from his seat and eyed her with curiosity.

He seemed to make up his mind about her rather quickly, judging by the way his face shifted from curious to gleeful in a matter of milliseconds.

Loki smirked at her from behind the glass, watching every movement she took. She moved to the left, slightly, and his eyes followed her. She flexed her fingers and looked around the room. Someone had set a chair out, which she took a seat in, and crossed her legs professionally. In her mind it was very smooth, but in reality she flailed for a bit and dropped her folder onto the floor with a resounding smack that sounded like an anvil dropping in the obnoxiously quiet room.

"Shit." Avery cursed, gathering it up. She could feel his gaze on her, burning and intrusive. She didn't dare look back at him until she was sure she would be able to do so without fumbling around. She was supposed to be looking like she wasn't freaking out. Obviously, she wasn't off to a great start. She steeled her expression and looked up at him. "Sorry."

Avery froze.

Loki smirked even more and leaned forward so that he could place his hands behind his back, looking her up and down.

"Wait, why am I apologizing to you?" Avery ignored the superior look that found a home on his face and straightened her back. "Don't look at me like that."

He communicated through smirks, apparently. Avery found herself disliking him even more.

"I assumed they would send the assassin."

"You know what they say when you assume." Avery felt a rush of supremacy when he didn't immediately respond to her. "You'll make an ass out of you and me."

"A Midgardian saying. You will forgive me if I do not find it amusing."

"I thought you were the God of Mischief and Lies." Avery said, finding no offense in what he said. He wasn't going to get to her. She wasn't going to allow it. Subconsciously, she inwardly cringed. Outwardly she twisted her face up so that it looked both serious and intelligent. Or at least, intelligent enough to make Loki think she knew what the hell she was doing. "I would think you would find any sort of joke amusing." She tried to mock him by making her voice over the top silky, but all she got in return was a raised eyebrow.

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit."

"You know who said that?" Avery asked, smugly it should be noted. When he didn't indicate his interest in hearing her response, she continued anyway. "A Midgardian. Yea, bummer right? You quoting a Midgardian? How embarrassing."

Technically speaking, she wasn't entirely sure what a Midgardian was, but whatever. The way he said it with disdain made her think he thought it was akin to being something along the lines of pond scum, so she was all too willing to throw it back at him, whether it was an insult or not.

"Amusing." Loki removed his hands from behind his back and moved closer to the glass. He looked like a shark in a tank, sizing her up. He didn't appear to be very impressed by her and for once Avery was angry at the thought. She looked up at the camera nestled in the corner of the room, making eye contact with it, knowing Natasha was probably on the other side watching her intently. Avery had the fleeting image of the redhead chewing on her nail, before she realized that was absolutely ridiculous. Natasha only got nervous about one thing and one thing only. Avery wasn't even supposed to know what that thing was, as a matter of fact, so she forced herself to focus on Loki. "Tell me, Avery, have you come to question me? Or simply provide me with entertainment until Agent Romanoff comes back."

"I have." She said simply, thinking it best not to lie to the liar. "The first one."

"And so my reputation precedes me, it seems." She wanted to smack that smarmy little smirk off his face. They stared at each other for a moment before Avery held the folder up and shook it.

"No not really. Everything I need to know is right here." She said.

"You are incredibly smug for someone who has so little control they have to keep you on a leash like an animal." Loki's mouth twisted around the words.

"You do realize you're the one in a giant turtle tank." She pointed out, although his words were already worming their way into her brain. She dropped the folder onto her lap and leaned forward, seeing her own reflection in the glass of his little prison. "Not me."

She looked a mess, with wildly dirty hair and smudges of dirt all over her face and down the part of her neck that was exposed. She pulled the neckline up, although she didn't think he was even remotely interested in that sort of thing, and sat back so that she couldn't see herself anymore. There was no point in looking at her crazy self, when she could be looking at the only other thing in the room likely to be crazier.

"A temporary predicament, I assure you."

Avery rolled her eyes in an over the top and obnoxious manner, noticing that he narrowed his eyes when she did that. "What?"

Loki smiled wickedly and she realized the mistake she had made. "My brother was never very smart, but even he should know who you are."

"I'm not anybody to either of you. So you can just get that thought out of your grease addled brain. We aren't here to talk about me." Avery said warily, bitingly. He noticed and his lips curled, making her think for a moment that she might be getting to him. When the same smirk returned to his face, she realized she was wrong.

"What are we here to talk about, then?" He was definitely mocking her.

"You." She said, making a face. "Like where you hid the tesseract."

He seemed like he was going to tell her, briefly, but then decided against it. "You're going to have to make me."

That smarmy son of bitch. Avery clenched her hands into fists and stood up, setting the folder down on her vacated seat. She walked towards the cell until she was practically touching it with her nose. He stood up to his full height, which dwarfed hers, and extended his arms outward. He was toying with her and she found, quite suddenly, that she hated it.

"You're an asshole."

"Your insults mean nothing. I have been called worse by people far more important than you, I assure you."

"Just because the Queen of England may have called you something rude, doesn't change the fact that you're an asshole."

He laughed. It was almost as horrible as Natasha's laugh. It made her chest tighten with panic. He knew what he was doing, knew what to say to make her nervous and unable to do her job.

"I'm waiting."

"I can see why nobody likes you."

"I am still waiting, Avery. Make me."

There was something about the tone he used, about the way his eyes were filled with mirth that made her freeze. Loki was up to something. She felt idiotic, when she realized what was happening. He was playing her and she was doing and saying exactly what he wanted her to.

"I would rather you just tell me."

"And I would prefer if I wasn't forced to breathe the same air as this Midgardian filth."

"You keep using that word like its a bad thing."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Ignorant little fool."

"You're planning something."

"Did you figure that out all on your own? Wonderful, Avery, truly wonderful."

"Okay, I get it, you think I'm an idiot."

"I think you're a puppet."

She dug her fingernails into her palm and glared at him, wishing she could reach through the glass and punch him in the face. He deserved it. His face was the sort that was just begging for a fist and she was all too willing to oblige.

"I'm not going to fall for that."

"For what, exactly?"

"You're tricking me. Lying to me just to watch me squirm."

"Are you squirming?"

"Slight fidgeting, maybe." Avery said, crossing her arms over her chest and fixing her face into a very defiant expression. "You aren't nearly as intimidating as you think you are."

"You are trying to lie to the God of Lies. Not a very good plan, I do have to say."

Avery fought the urge to walk out of the room. "I'm going to do it now."

"I'm still waiting, Avery."

"Stop saying my name."

"Avery."

That was the final straw. She unclenched her fists and looked at him, focusing as hard as she could. It started as a slight tingling in her chest, a tightness that felt both uncomfortable and familiar all at the same time. She concentrated, harder than she ever had before. Loki took a step back, eyebrows raised. When nothing happened, she concentrated even more, closing her eyes and extending her hands outwards.

"Clever trick, but you don't expect it to work on me, do you?"

Avery cracked open one eye, but didn't stop concentrating. Her head pulsated, the feeling of pressure building until she felt like it was going to explode. Loki tilted his head to the side, the façade of humor cracking ever so briefly. It was back almost as soon as it had left, making Avery's blood boil with anger.

He was really starting to piss her off.

"Pathetic."

She opened her eyes and stared at him, making eye contact pointedly as she felt the familiar buzz around her brain. It wasn't working. She pushed harder, the pressure behind her eyes so strong it hurt.

"You wish to know where the tesseract is."

She fought the smile on her face and kept pushing, taking a step forward so that she could place her hands on the glass. She wished she could see what her powers looked like, wished, for the first time ever, that she could see what they did to the person she was using them on. She always imagined them like snakes wrapping around the person's head and neck, squeezing the information out of them.

"Tell me."

"I will not." Loki said simply. It was like cold water was dumped on her head. She dropped her hands immediately, disappointment washing over her. She felt like a popped balloon, deflating with disappointment. "Because I do not know where it is."

"How can you not know where it is?"

"I would think it is fairly self-explanatory. I do not have it, obviously, therefore I do not know where it is. I sent it away. Do I need to spell it out for you again?"

"Now you're just being nasty for the hell of it."

"I answered your question, did I not?"

Avery pursed her lips. He was technically correct, if he was telling her the truth, which she didn't see how he wouldn't be. Unless, of course he was able to resist her powers. The thought didn't settle well with her.

"Are you lying to me?"

"I didn't think that was possible with someone like you. You're ability prevents that. Or maybe, it doesn't and you are just too naïve to know what you're truly capable of. "

"How would you…" Avery paused, taking a few steps back. If he wasn't in his glass box, she was certain he would be stalking towards her. "You don't know me. You don't know anything about me."

"But I do. I know that you have so little control you can't even be around other people without using your abilities. You are weak and they can see that. They use you and when you have served your purpose they will throw you away like your mother threw you away. You wouldn't know how to function without someone pulling your strings and the moment they get cut, you will be lost."

Avery took another step back and tripped over the chair. She landed on her backside painfully, although she hardly noticed.

"Stop."

"You are nothing to them but a tool for their own means and desires."

"Please, stop." Avery fought the urge to put her hands over her ears, as she moved back from him, as if getting farther away meant he wouldn't be able to speak to her anymore.

"Pathetic, truly pathetic."

Avery hit her back against something, a metal railing she thought. She reached a hand up to grab the top and hauled herself off the ground, keeping her eyes on Loki the entire time.

"We're done." Avery said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"This is going to be fun."

She made eye contact with him once more and, upon seeing the wicked smirk on his face, fled the room before he could say anything else.

* * *

**Loki is such a d-bag. Lol. So, who's excited for Avengers: Age of Ultron? I saw it and it's amazing! Once again, thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites!** **I hope you guys picked up on some of the phrases Loki used when speaking to Avery because they are very important for later (like AOU plot later)as well as some more hints about what he may know about her heritage.  
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**Also, Natasha is still going to interrogate Loki, so I don't want anyone to think Avery is taking her job. Obviously, Nat is soooooo much better at that kind of thing. **

**REVIEW! **


	13. Chapter 13

_-Chapter Thirteen-_

* * *

Avery wanted to cry. She felt the desire flare up in her chest the moment she escaped, hot and embarrassing, but when she finally allowed herself a little time to cry in peace, nothing came out. She slid down the nearest wall and pulled her knees to her chest, burying her face against her legs and wrapping her arms around her feet. She only needed a moment, she thought, before she could stand back up, wipe her face and pretend like nothing happened. Only a moment of ugly crying before she would be okay, but even that wasn't going according to plan.

She shoved her face into her knees until her eyes hurt, groaning so loudly she thought Loki, and Natasha and all the agents in the observation room that she was certain existed despite her not being able to see it, would be able to hear her. There was something cathartic about crying, something soothing, and she was disappointed with not being able to. She even tried pinching herself, which felt a smidge desperate and stupid almost as soon as she did it, before she leaned back and gave up.

It was easy to tell herself that she wasn't going to let Loki and his misguided delusions of familiarity get to her, but she already felt like a large pile of crap warmed up in a microwave a few times after what he said to her. And that was without really thinking about the fact that her powers, which were generally a nuisance, didn't even work.

She kicked her legs out and stared at her S.H.I.E.L.D. issue boots. Still uncomfortable as hell, but she thought if angled correctly she might be able to land a kick solid enough to leave a mark on Loki's face. At least then she would feel some sort of satisfaction.

"Avery?"

Avery jumped, slamming the back of her head into the metal wall with a solid thud. She hastily wiped her eyes and nose on her sleeve, out of habit more than anything, and stood up, using the wall behind her as an anchor. Steve looked uncomfortable, although there was something about the expression that led her to believe it had nothing to do with finding her groaning on the floor like a malfunctioning rumba.

"Steve, hi."

She didn't know why he was here. He was supposed to be with the others, not standing there staring at her. She just wanted to cry, or attempt to cry and fail, in peace for five minutes. She didn't think that was too much to ask for.

"You're bleeding."

"What? Where?" She had the sudden image of herself covered in blood before she reminded herself that that was ridiculous.

"Your nose is bleeding." Her nose. How trivial and not at all life-threatening. She blushed at her overreaction and looked away, blotting at her nose with the end of her sleeve. It was stupid, really, considering he had already seen the offending plasma, but she still felt a rush of embarrassment course through her.

"At least this uniform can't get any worse looking." She attempted to make a joke. It was awkward when Steve didn't laugh.

"What happened?"

"I don't know." She admitted, pulling her sleeve back to check the blood. "Is it gone?"

"You missed a bit." He gestured to her check. She scrubbed it and sighed, realizing she probably just made it worse.

"I look like a Picasso painting."

"Your face isn't nearly distorted enough for that."

"Only slightly distorted."

"I didn…" He instantly tried to take back the insult, which wasn't even really an insult at all. Avery shook her head and pulled her sleeves over her fingers.

"I was joking." She said wearily. "What are you doing here, by the way? Not that I don't want to see you, but shouldn't you in Fury's war room, discussing strategies or something." She finished, realizing that some of her frustration at what just happened what showing through.

He looked away. Maybe he thought it would be less suspicious if he did so, but all it achieved was heightening Avery's curiosity. "No reason."

"That's totally the truth and not remotely suspicious at all."

He looked back at her and smiled. It's much more pleasant than Loki's, which bordered on Hannibal Lector psychopathy, and not remotely mocking or predatory. "Walking clears my head."

"Anything bad?"

"It's not anything good."

Avery made a noise at the back of her throat and leaned back against the wall. "That always the case, isn't it?" She said, hand trailing up to her face to check to see if her nose was still oozing blood. It wasn't, but now she was paranoid.

"What happened with Loki?"

It was a very natural and not at all intrusive question, but it instantly caused her guard to spring back up. "Nothing."

"So it's not the reason your nose is bleeding?"

"It's probably the altitude. I mean, this ship was built by S.H.I.E.L.D. so it probably isn't even properly pressurized."

"I'm not going to even try and pretend like I believe you."

They stood in silence, staring each other down, before she caved. "It's never happened before. I didn't even feel it."

"It was your powers?"

"I would assume so. It's not like Loki sucker punched me when I wasn't looking. Although he seems like the kind of guy who would do that."

A door opened to the left, causing both Avery and Steve to turn around. Avery was thankful until she saw Natasha stalking towards her, scowl etched deep on her face and hands clenched into fists at her sides. Avery braced herself for the lecture and when Natasha didn't immediately start in on her, she knew that something was wrong.

"That snake." Natasha hissed, pushing past Avery and Steve. She took the stairs two steps at a time, almost going through the door that led to Loki before she stopped and turned back around, eyes blazing. "You're bleeding."

Even though she logically knew she had cleaned off as much as possible, she still reached a hand up to cover her nose. She turned to the side and wiped at it, dabbing at the nonexistent blood until she was sure there wasn't anything but light staining left. "Like I told Steve, it's not anything. My brain might be melting out through my nasal cavity, but seriously, no big deal."

"What happened in there?"

"You were watching." Avery said plainly, entirely unwilling to go through it again. "Pretty self-explanatory."

"He shouldn't have been able to resist your powers." Natasha said and for once Avery did not detect a hint of blame being hurled at her. How refreshing.

"I don't know if he did." Steve pointed out, seeming surprised by the looks both Natasha and Avery gave him.

"Explain."

"What he said lined up exactly with what he told Thor. He said he didn't know where the tesseract was."

"So he lied twice."

"Or he told the truth twice. Either way, I don't think we can assume he has the tesseract."

"That's what his whole game was. What else would he be playing at?"

"I think we should focus on the scepter."

"Scepter? What scepter?" Avery asked.

"Stark and Banner are already working on it. They haven't been able to find any traces of the tesseract or pinpoint the scepter's power source."

"Wait." Avery turned back to look at them, unsure of whether or not she had heard Natasha correctly. "What do you mean Tony and Dr. Banner are trying to find the tesseract? What the hell was I in there for? Giggles? A little stress relief for you guys after a hard day? I bet you all found it quite amusing to watching me fall flat on my ass, again, and prove, again, that I have about as much control and ability as a cat in a dog show."

"We needed to see if your abilities would work on him. As far as we could tell, you were the best chance of finding it quickly." Natasha said simply, as if Avery had no reason to be upset. "That didn't work, so now we have to go to plan B."

"Which is?"

"Me."

"Great. This is just fantastic, Natasha. You could have gone in from the very beginning and saved us all this giant waste of time."

"We had no reason to believe he would be resistant to you."

"He's the God of Lies and Mischief."

"And you compel people to tell the truth."

"For the last time, that isn't how it works." Avery was probably being suicidal by taking a step towards Natasha, but she couldn't help it. Her hands clenched into fists of their own accord, her eyes narrowed into slits.

"Both of you need to calm down and take a step back." Steve pushed himself between them, putting an arm on both of their shoulders to keep them back.

"We would know how it works if you had ever been bothered to try hard enough to gain control." Natasha bit back. There was the blame again. Avery should have known it was too good to be true that Natasha didn't find her at fault.

"Maybe I would been more inclined to do better if you hadn't kept me locked up for months like a criminal."

"You were hardly locked up. You were welcome to move about the training facility as you pleased and if you had ever shown any signs of improvement, you would have been cleared for field work much sooner. The only reason you even got to leave base with Agent Barton is because he asked special permission."

"Really, Natasha, that's what you're going with?"

"Avery, stop." Steve gently pushed Avery back from Natasha even more, the pressure from his hand increasing. "This isn't going to help anything."

"Tell her that." Avery snapped, pointing to Natasha over Steve's shoulder.

"I'm telling you both."

"This is wasting time." Natasha said haughtily, as if she had been taking the high road the entire time. Avery shot her a dark look as she shrugged out of Steve's grasp so that she could move away from them both. She would have kept walking if she didn't think some S.H.I.E.L.D. agent wouldn't pop out and escort her to some other cave-like room isolation room. "Gudrun, we'll talk about this later."

Avery didn't like that Natasha was speaking to her like she was about five years old and had just decided to finger paint all over her freshly painted wall. She didn't think it was her fault, though, not this time, so instead of responding to the scold with the usual amount of remorse, she simply felt angry. "Well, when we do, I'm sure you'll find something else to blame me for. Like global warming. Sorry, that was my bad. And Watergate, I'm sure I had something to do with that too. Oops. I guess I can't do anything without S.H.I.E.L.D. there to hold my hand and make sure I don't screw everything up."

Natasha walked down the steps and through the door, giving Avery one last disgruntled look as she went, without saying anything else.

"She's like an angry house cat." Avery muttered, forgetting for a moment that Steve was standing right there. She realized, almost as soon as she had said it, and instantly felt bad. "I mean, the sort of house cat that is totally lethal and still quite lovable in its own very odd, alarming way."

"Are you okay?" Steve asked when she seemed inclined to continue her babbling.

"No. No I'm not." Avery ran a hand through her hair. "Did you watch the…"

"Interrogation?

"I was going to say train wreck, but yea."

"Just because it didn't go as planned, doesn't mean it wasn't useful."

"It was a total disaster." Avery moaned, dropping her head to her chest. "You heard everything?"

Steve nodded. There was something about the knowledge that all of them had witnessed that little scene that felt like Loki was personally nailing in the last nail of her coffin. "Director Fury thought we would learn something."

"Did you? Did you all sit around eating popcorn and laughing at the fact that Loki managed to exploit the one fact about me that I would like to keep quiet in the first five minute conversation with him? I bet you all found that hilarious." Avery snapped unintentionally, feeling like all of her nerves were shot. She groaned and looked up at him, pushing herself off the wall with her elbows. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

Avery wanted to argue but she didn't. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I was going to," He paused, eyes wide. "Nowhere. Just going nowhere."

"Is that some sort of life mantra?"

"No, why would you think that?"

"Because you're totally a terrible liar." Avery said simply, causing him to smile. "Look, you don't have to tell me, but at least let me walk with you for a little bit?"

Steve looked at her like he was debating with himself. She didn't exactly blame him, but she still rolled her eyes at the amount of time it took him to decide. He nodded at her after a moment, seeming to make up his mind. "Okay, but you have to keep quiet."

"Why? Are you we going somewhere we shouldn't?"

"Technically, I haven't been given the same security restrictions as you."

"So technically yes, we shouldn't be going there."

"If you want to look at it that way."

"Wicked." Avery clapped her hands together and moved to stand next to him, mood instantly improving. He eyed her up and down, odd expression on his face for a brief moment before it disappeared. "I didn't think someone who wore the American flag on his chest would be okay with breaking the rules."

"There's a lot about me that you don't, Ma'am."

"Oh gross, don't call me ma'am. It makes me sound like a middle aged woman who hits on the neighbor kid." She started walking down the hallway, despite not knowing where she was going. She felt better with each step she took that got her farther away from Loki. It was probably the equivalent of taking a sugar pill and thinking her headaches were cured, but she decided not to think about it too much. When Steve didn't follow her, she turned to look back at him. The odd look was back. Avery froze. "What?"

Steve seemed to realize he was staring and immediately corrected himself. "You're going the wrong way."

"Then lead the way, Captain."

"Steve."

"Avery." He rolled his eyes and smiled at her, pointing down a side hallway that she completely missed. She leaned back, eyeing the hallway with suspicion. "That looks ominous."

"Remember what I said about keeping quiet?"

"Oh, right." She made a gesture like she was zipping up her mouth. "You won't even know I'm here."

He severely doubted that.

* * *

Avery kept her word for the first ten minutes, which impressed Steve. She stuck close behind him, not saying a word until he stopped in front of the elevator that led down to the lower levels of the ship. He was surprised that no one was there asking for id. He expressed this notion to Avery and she simply shrugged, stepping forward to press the lowest button with enthusiasm. She was enjoying this.

She was a bit hard for him to understand. Most of the people he had encountered since he woke up from the ice had confused him, but that was in the way people always confused him. It was the normal confusion, the kind he could brush off quickly. But Avery wasn't like them. She carried herself differently, like she was just waiting for something bad to happen to her. Her comment about being locked up didn't sit well with him, and he wanted to ask her, but kept his mouth shut out of respect.

The elevator was so smooth when it reached the bottom floor, Steve almost didn't realize they'd stopped moving. He mentally added it to the list of things that had improved. He was starting to lose track. He stepped to the side to allow Avery to step out first. She leaned out to look, holding out her arm to stop him. He could very easily step sideways and out into the hallway, but he humored her. Maybe if she was in a better mood she would be able to control her powers better. S.H.I.E.L.D. probably hadn't even considered that.

"We're good." She said, pulling her arm back. "So, what's down here?"

Steve didn't know what he was looking for, exactly, but he thought he would recognize it when he saw it.

"I'm not sure exactly."

"Mystery, I like it."

"So where are you from?" That seemed like a safe enough question and when she didn't make a face, he knew he was in acceptable territory. All of this was in her file, but he thought she might find it better if he didn't already know it all. He could pretend, at least.

"New Mexico."

That was where Thor first touched down. Purely coincidental. It had to be.

"I've never been. Is it nice?"

"It's hot. A little dusty, but otherwise it's really nice. Winter is pretty nice." She pulled her long blonde hair out of its messy bun and ran her fingers through it. They got stuck a few times, which frustrated her enough for her to yank it back into an even messier bun that left strands hanging all around her face. "I'm going to shave my head."

She was joking, he hoped. "That would be..."

"I won't. My head is too funny shaped for that." Avery wrapped her finger around one of the strands. "It would be funny looking though. Sort of like an awkward cue ball."

Steve stared at her. She was being very odd, even he knew that despite only knowing her briefly. She seemed so upset not ten minutes ago and then now she was smiling and laughing. He wanted to point this out to her, to see if she realized it as well, but kept his mouth shut, waiting for her to say anything else. She looked up at him, scratching the back of her head, before she shrugged her shoulders and turned away. He caught a glimpse of a flash of something else on her face, something he couldn't quite place. It increased his confusion about her tenfold.

"I think it's this way." Steve said, clearing his throat awkwardly and pointing down the hallway.

"You don't know what we're looking for." Avery reminded him.

"I'll know it when I see it."

They walked down the dimly lit hallway for a few more minutes, silence washing over them. Avery hummed quietly to herself, loud enough that only they could hear it. When Steve questioned her about it, she simply said that it was theme music and that it seemed appropriate. He didn't know what to say to that, so he kept his gaze forward and his mind from wondering too much about her. She certainly inspired curiosity.

They stopped at a door that look promising. Steve gestured to it, holding his hand up to his lips to make sure she didn't make a noise. She nodded, leaning against the wall and waited for him to open the door. She kept watch, even though he didn't tell her to, and didn't say anything about the fact that in order to get inside he needed to break it open. The metal groaned, echoing down the hallway. Avery glanced at him and ran up to the nearest intersecting hallway and peered down it, using the corner as an anchor to lean out.

"Nobody." She ran back, ever so slight smirk on her face. "This is exciting, I have to say."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

"I'm not." She deadpanned and for a moment he believed her until she nudged him with her elbow as she ducked under his arm. He replaced the door as best he could and tried his best to ignore her whispered comments. "I'm sure nobody will notice that."

"I'm sure nobody noticed your humming."

"Steve, everybody knows that you can't break in somewhere without theme music."

Steve did his absolute best not to laugh. "Oddly enough, I've broken in plenty of places and theme music was never involved."

"Then you weren't doing it right."

He shook his head and crouched down, pressing his body back against the narrow shelf to his left. Avery followed his lead, humming forgotten for the time being, and waited for him to tell her where they were going. He didn't actually know, and he hoped it didn't show on his face, but he walked down thin line of shelves. The room was bigger than it first appeared on the outside, with shelves, barrels, and stacks on stacks of crates and containers as far as he could see. Avery let out a low whistle once she saw how much was in the room and leaned closer to him so that she could whisper, louder than she probably thought, up at him.

"Did you know all this was in here?"

He wanted to say yes, but seeing the knowing look on her face, he couldn't even pretend. "No."

"You're the best guesser in history, then."

"Shush."

"Right, sorry." She made the zipping gesture again and crouched back down, flapping her hand at him to go back to what he was doing.

He crept along the shelf, keeping his back against it. It felt weird to him, both comfortable and foreign all at the same time. He had done this countless times, and yet there was something about it this time that made it harder for him. It certainly wasn't Avery who, despite her constantly changing moods, was the most normal person he had come across in , that wasn't entirely true. She was very odd in her own way and he could see why people would dislike her for what she could do. But she hadn't even attempted to use her powers on him once and he didn't think she was going to any time soon. He glanced down at her and eyed the bottom of her nose, seeing the red stain. She noticed him staring and quirked her head sideways

Steve hurriedly looked away and kept moving forward until he got to a large shelving unit at the end of the first row. He looked up, counting six shelves all the way up to the ceiling, each covered in boxes and crates with the same label on them.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Avery wiped the dust of the crate at her eye level. "What is all this?"

"I don't know." Steve moved down the line just a bit, counting the containers and taking note of their shape. "But I think I have an idea. Come on."

He moved swiftly down the aisle and turned the corner at the end and instantly doubled back, waving his arms at her to stop. He hadn't counted on their being a catwalk with an armed guard on it. They had probably already heard them. He pointed to her to hold her spot, feeling relieved when she did without any arguments. Crouching back down and using the shelf to balance, he slunk sideways until he could just see the outline of the guard. It was only one and by the looks of him, he wasn't very observant if he didn't notice Avery and her yell-like whisper. Still, he thought it would probably be better if she stayed put.

Steve leaned back and shuffled back towards Avery, wincing as his shoes made a slight squeaking noise on the metallic floor. She raised her eyebrows and waited for him to say something. He pointed towards the door and she thankfully understood. She nodded and sank down to a crouching position that was so low her knees almost touched the floor and moved back to the door.

It wasn't the smoothest he had ever seen but it would do. She practically fell into the door, barely managing to recover without making any more noise. She turned back around after a moment and smiled widely, thumbs up.

He turned back around and crept back to the nearest container. He hoped he wasn't right about what was inside, but he didn't think he was that lucky. Peering through the gaps in the shelf at the guard, he stood up as quietly as he could. The buckles made a popping sound as they snapped open, making him wince, but once he saw what was inside, he didn't care if the guard found him and Avery or not.

He grabbed the gun and threw it over his shoulder, slamming the lid shut.

"Are we not being quiet any more or…"

"It doesn't matter."

Steve wasn't sure if he was angry or disappointed, both perhaps. Avery clearly didn't feel the same way, or if she simply didn't understand what it meant, but he did and it made his fists curl around the gun until he dented it. He picked up the door with his free hand and waited for Avery to scurry through before he snapped it back into place, a little crooked but still unnoticeable to someone passing by.

"What is that?" Avery asked once they were far enough away from the door that Steve didn't think they would be overheard by the guard, who was, quite frankly, the worst he had ever come across.

Steve debated lying to her before he remembered that she had never done so to him. He thought for a moment that she might be using her power. He looked down at her and stared at the red rimmed area under her nose and instantly regretted assuming that, feeling his cheeks heating up as if she could see what he was thinking.

"It's pretty similar to a Hydra weapon."

"Hydra?"

"They haven't told you anything have they?" Steve was a bit shocked that someone who supposedly could access all the secrets they want, knew next to nothing about who she was with or what was going on.

"No."

He saw the look on her face and felt more regret. He didn't exactly know what to say to her. In fact, he was impressed they'd been able to speak to each other this long without him saying something that she would take the wrong way. Back in his day, his original day, he couldn't go five minutes without stuttering over his own words and making a complete fool of himself. He settled for the only thing he could think of. "You can come with me, if you'd like."

She blinked quickly, as if she didn't quite understand what he was offering her. "Where?"

"To Banner's lab. Find some things out for yourself."

"Dr. Banner. As in the guy who I got kicked off a plane for making eye contact with?"

"Yes, I guess so."

"That probably isn't a good idea."

"I trust you." Steve said, without really thinking. He wasn't sure if it was true, but it seemed like the sort of thing she needed to hear, if only just to calm her down for a little bit.

"You don't know me." She reminded him, a bit of realization dawning on her face as she realized what he was doing.

"No, I don't. But you are the only person I've met since waking up from the ice that hasn't talked down to me just because I'm a little old."

"More than a little old." Avery said, smirking good naturedly at him.

"Thank you." He switched the gun over to his other shoulder and started walking down the hall, noticing that when she followed him, her steps were a little lighter.

"We could make a deal, if you want." She offered, catching up to him with a little effort.

"A deal?"

"Yea, I won't say anything snarky about the fact that your from before the advent of the microwave oven, and you won't treat me like I'm a ticking time bomb."

"I don't think you are."

"You're actual opinions weren't part of the deal."

"I can't make amendments?"

"Nope. Sorry, not allowed." Avery looked down at her feet, voice getting quieter and quieter. "You know, I don't mean to do the stuff that I can. With Dr. Banner and the plane, I never would've done that if I could have stopped it. I don't necessarily think S.H.I.E.L.D. are the good guys, but I'm really tired of people looking at me like I'm bad. Because I'm not and I want to stop doing things that make it look like I am."

"Deal."

"What?"

"We'll make the deal." Steve said, stopping in front of the elevator that they used to get down here.

"You're a real upstanding gent, Captain Rogers." Avery pressed a button before she sighed. "I don't know what floor we're going to."

"Four."

"You should give me the gun." The elevator door slid open and Avery immediately stepped in, turning around to look at him.

"Why?"

"Because your arthritis has to be killing you."

He laughed simply at the look on her face. "That isn't part of the deal."

"Last one, I swear." Avery seemed so much more normal when she was smiling. He remembered the look on her face on the grainy interrogation footage, the horror and mortification that seemed to dominate everything about what happened with Loki. As they went up, however, he noticed that the same upset look started to return, almost as if she thought they were stepping back into reality. "So the gun?"

"Absolutely not." Steve switched the gun to the opposite side from her. "Avery, I just want you to know that you aren't the only one who doesn't know whats going on most of the time."

She was quiet for a moment and Steve thought she wasn't going to say anything else before she looked away. When she spoke her voice was soft and almost unintelligible. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For treating me like I ma..." She trailed off when the elevator doors opened. "Just, thank you."

* * *

**Long time no see, eh? So, once again, I am very sorry for the long absence. School has been kicking my butt and I have been dealing with some major writers block for the story, but I think I have it all worked out so that I can continue to write an enjoyable (hopefully) story for you guys. This chapter was by far my favorite to write. I thought it was super important for Avery to realize that not everyone is Natasha and S.H.I.E.L.D., who both come around eventually, and that she isn't the only one dealing with stuff.**

**I hope you all enjoyed this and thank you for all the the reviews! Keep em coming!**


	14. Chapter 14

_-Chapter Fourteen-_

* * *

Avery noticed three things about Tony Stark almost immediately. One, he never stopped talking. Two, he was more skilled at insulting people than a man his age probably should be. And three, he never seemed to know where the line was. Or maybe he did, and simply didn't care.

She couldn't decide which of the three was the most alarming.

He noticed her the moment she walked into the lab with Steve and immediately sauntered over to her. He shouldn't saunter. It made him look skeezy. Avery supposed that might be what he was going for, but from what she had read in the tabloids and seen on TV, he had never seemed like the type to do anything creepy, intentional or not. Still, he seemed delighted to see her and that made her pause as soon as she entered. Steve kept walking and set the gun on the nearest table, folding his arms over his chest. The door slid shut being them, leaving the lab in silence except for the noise of the machines and computers. Even the four of them staring at each other produced enough phantom noise to fill the space.

Tony, seemingly oblivious to the awkward, kept smirking at her, making her cautious to the point that she tried to press her back against the nearest wall without any of them noticing.

Dr. Banner, who had been standing in front of a floating computer monitor on the opposite side of the lab, glanced over at them. She could see that he didn't quite know what to make of her standing there staring at him. He was decent enough not to say anything, unlike Tony, who opened his mouth to speak almost as soon as the uncomfortable silence started.

"Oh my god, Bruce, do you know who this is?"

"You've been gone a while, Steve," Dr. Banner addressed Steve directly, almost as if he was willing her away in his mind while simultaneously ignoring Tony. She thought about being offended for a moment before she remembered what happened the last time she and him had been in the general vicinity of each other. He wasn't convulsing, this time. She saw that as an improvement, at the very least.

"Can I have your autograph?" Tony was speaking to her. She blinked rapidly, wondering what on earth he was talking about before she realized he was was referring to her disastrous interview with Loki. "I caught your last show. Solid work, kid. Can't say I cared for your screen partner, though."

"Tony, stop harassing her." Dr. Banner sounded like he had been stuck in the lab with Tony for hours with nothing but his rambling and the computer screens to keep him company. He turned to look at Avery, smiling slightly in a way that clearly showed his discomfort underneath his attempts at being friendly. "I, uh, don't think we've formally met."

Neither of them crossed the lab to exchange the customary handshake. Neither of them moved in fact, both seeming perfectly content with the fifteen foot distance separating them. Avery kept her back to the wall and leaned out, peering around Steve's large frame to look at Dr. Banner directly. "I'm Avery. It's nice to meet you."

She meant it, even if her hesitant tone didn't express it.

"I'm Bruce."

"So, you aren't supposed to be here." The frankness in his tone would normally be offensive, but when it came from Tony, even if she didn't know him very well, it didn't seem like he meant it as anything other than the truth.

"Should I leave?"

"I didn't say that." Tony turned away from her and walked over to a small table covered in equipment. He poked around, pushing some things aside and dropping others, before he found what he was looking for. A bag of blueberries half gone and half mushed. He walked back over to her, skirting around Steve with an unreadable look on his face, before he came to stand in front of her. He shoved the blueberries under her nose and shook the bag, more and more until she finally snatched them out of his hand just to get him to stop. "That's the spirit."She popped a few in her mouth and chewed them quickly, nervously. Tony was watching her. Steve and Bruce were too but they at least at the common decency to not make it too obvious. She poured a few more into her hand and made eye contact with Tony, purposely staring him down while she shoved the rest of the snack into her mouth.

He smirked.

"So, what happened?" Tony plucked the bag out of her hand and poured enough into his mouth to puff out his cheeks. "You're eyes started glowing." His words were so muffled and thick he held up a finger and told her to wait while he swallowed the inhuman amount of fruit in his mouth before continuing. "Anyway, right before your nose started bleeding your eyes went all Village of the Damned."

"No way?"

"Yea, it was awesome." Steve made a noise in the back of his throat and his shoulders visibly tensed. Bruce shot Tony an admonishing look, which he responded to by raising his hands up. "Sorry, uh, we were _so_ concerned about you."

"I bet."

"Well, it was pretty cool."

"So my eyes started glowing?" He nodded and held out the bag of blueberries once again. She stared at them, glancing back and forth between them and his face, finger nails digging into the skin on the back of her thigh. Apparently, she had glowing eyes. She pressed her hands back against the nearest hard surface, shoulder muscles flexing while her chest expanded as she took in a shaky breath. A nose bleed was bad enough, she thought. Glowing eyes were worse and she felt the pressure building up suddenly, right behind her eyes and along the bridge of her nose. "That's…"

"It was only a flash." He was practically forcing her to take a handful of blueberries from him. When she did, Tony smiled and turned around. She dropped them on the floor immediately and resumed trying to take in a enough air to not feel light headed. "You feel okay?"

"I," She paused, squeezing her hands together behind her back. "I'm fine."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire."

"Leave her alone, Stark." Steve didn't sound angry, per say, but her certainly wasn't happy with how the conversation was progressing. "She isn't here for you to harass."

"Pity, harassing Bruce is getting a little boring. Besides, I would hardly call this harassment. What's a little conversation about supernatural abilities amongst friends?" Tony glanced over at Bruce and shook his head, mouthing something that looked like a retraction of what he had just said before he looked back at Avery in full. "But on a more serious note, I just thought you should know that you apparently have laser eyes."

"Was it bad?" Avery asked, feeling embarrassed by her slightly horrified tone of voice. Steve turned to face her, arms dropping from their crossed position to rest on his belt. "I mean that in a totally not pathetic way, of course."

"Obviously."

"Tony only noticed it because he was bored."

"And because of my keen detective skills," Tony interjected, fiddling with something for a moment before he dropped it, disinterest taking over his features. "Don't forget those."

"But that means Loki probably noticed too," Avery said it out loud, although it was more for herself than anything. "I mean, if _you_ noticed he definitely did as well." Steve laughed, causing Avery t turn and look at him, confusion all over her face for a moment before she realized she had insulted Tony directly to his face. "Oh, no. I didn't mean it like that. I was just pointing out the obvious."

That certainly didn't make it better. Steve covered his mouth with his hand, trying and failing to cover up his continued laughter. Tony looked back and forth between the two of them, narrowing his eyes in a way that caused Avery to snort as well. "Huh, I didn't know the super solider serum came with a built in sense of humor."

"Funny." Steve stopped laughing and scowled at him.

"Lighten up, Spangles," Tony said, causing whatever slight change mood change in Steve in the positive direction to evaporate. "Look, I didn't tell you to freak you out or anything. I just thought you should know before Fury finds out."

"You didn't tell him?"

"Snitches get stitches," Tony said simply, confusing both Steve and Bruce. Avery understood however, and felt and instant liking towards the older man settle upon her. "We'll keep it close to the vest until you can figure it out."

"You don't think it's a bad thing?"

"What, his sense of humor," He paused and looked at Steve, sizing him up and down. "Horrendous by the way."

"No, the laser eyes thing."

"Oh most definitely. But hey, maybe you can use it to melt steal beams or mess with some unsuspecting cats. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Tony," Bruce admonished, shooting Avery a very apologetic look. "It very easily could have been a lens flare."

"Yea, totally." Tony reached over and plucked the blueberries out of her hand. "And by that I mean not at all. We'll go with lens flare for now."

"You think it wasn't."

"I _know_ it wasn't. But Bruce is hushing me because apparently I'm being rude, so you and me can have a powwow lunch over this new information later when Capsicle isn't over there glaring at me. Deal?" Avery stared at him for a moment, trying to simultaneously process the idea of a new development in her powers, which was freaky in its own right, and Tony Stark inviting her to lunch. Both were alarming to think about and equally absurd. She shook her head and smiled, nodding ever so slightly.

"Deal."

Tony smirked at her again and turned to other two and clapped his hands. "I like her. Let's keep her around."

"Steve, did you find something?" Bruce asked, steering the conversation back to the other elephant in the room in the form of the giant silver gun currently sitting on one of their lab tables. She had already forgotten about that. "Besides Avery, I mean."

"The computers were taking a little long," Steve said, walking over and placing his hand on the barrel, or what she assumed was the barrel where his fingers had dented it earlier.

"I wouldn't get too worked about the eye thing, kid." Tony came to stand next to her and leaned down so that only she could hear him.

"You know I was just getting used to one freaky thing about myself. I'm kind of upset that now there's two."

"Maybe, maybe not. I would get used to it, however, because from what I can tell, the world's about to get a whole hell of a lot freakier."

* * *

Things were not going according to plan. Avery didn't have a idea, per say, about how she wanted things to go, but this was certainly not it. The situation had escalated so quickly into fights it would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that every single person in the room looked capable of, and likely to, kill one another at any moment. She sat back on one of the lab tables and crossed her arms over her chest, watching as they squabbled back and forth like children. Calling them children might even be giving them too much credit. They hardly noticed her, seemingly too caught up in yelling at each other to think about the extra person pressed as far against the lab table as possible.

She decided she was content, like usual, to wait it out; to wait until it was over before either trying to sneak out, inadvisable given the current company, or sit quietly until they all forgot she existed.

She settled on the second one and pulled her hands up underneath the backs of her knees and hopped up onto the table. It was probably disrespectful of her, what with her lack of showering for a few days and the delicate nature of the instruments on all sides of her, but she did so anyway. She tried to make herself as skinny as possible so as not to disturb anything and returned her gaze to the six-way fight in front of her, unsure of who was the most interesting and important to watch.

Tony and Steve seemed to have the most animosity between them, although she didn't have any idea why, and were currently throwing insults back and forth, each one getting nastier and nastier. Then there was the three way spat going on between Director Fury, whom Avery thought had no business squabbling at his age, Natasha and Bruce. Then there was Thor looking smug and superior, as if the entire thing was beneath him.

She caught his gaze once and immediately looked away, turning her attention back on the other five.

It was a mess and Avery was perfectly okay with staying out of it.

Her insistence on keeping clear of the conflict was something she thought she had perfected a long time ago. It allowed her to focus on her control, at the very least, even if the fight didn't offer any of the information Steve had goaded her with in the first place. She supposed it was something to learn that her eyes glowed, but even that had been glossed over in such a flippant way by Tony she had a hard time taking it seriously.

Normal human eyes didn't glow. She had never been normal, but even that was a bit of stretch, even for her.

She ran her fingers along the edge of the table underneath her knees and focused on keeping her powers from going haywire. She literally couldn't think of a worse time for them to go bad. She used all her energy, which was admittedly less than ideal, on keeping them back. She felt pressure behind her eyes for a moment before it dissipated into a dull ache in her sinuses that she took to be a good sign. They were a leaky faucet right now, as opposed to a gush, so she thought it was a good thing.

When Steve invited her up to the lab, this wasn't exactly what she had in mind. Which brought her back to her original assessment of this fubar situation being the exact opposite of anything resembling a plan, her choosing or otherwise. She had imagined finally being included in what was happening. She thought she had earned even that much after everything involving the facility explosion, Bruce, and the sudden arrival of not one, but two Asgardians. She had no illusions about being anywhere near as helpful as the other people in the room but she thought that if she was going to be on the helicarrier anyway she might as well be doing something useful rather than thinking of all the possible ways she could escape without anyone noticing a parachute was missing.

Besides, Avery did think if they were going to demand she be privy to and subsequently relay information from Loki that they award her the common decency of letting her in on their meetings that discussed him.

She really didn't think it was too much to ask.

She supposed it was step in the right direction that she was there and that Steve and Tony had actually talked to her like she had a right to know what was going on. Now that she could see how they fought, baby steps seemed like the best thing she could hope for at the moment. She glanced at the two men in question and rolled her eyes before looking around the lab.

Her table was directly across from the scepter. It did look sort of intimidating, now that she had time to examine it. Despite its sort of scary, sort of movie propish qualities, it didn't really seem like it was worth all the effort and trouble, however, so she couldn't help but glare at the little blue orb mounted at the top. The small amount of glow, which Avery wasn't sure if she should be concerned about or not, ebbed for a moment before it flickered out, returning the stone back to its original blue.

"Is that normal?" She spoke before she could stop herself, although none of them paid her any attention. It certainly didn't seem normal, even if her knowledge of glowing scepters was pretty limited to movies about cursed Egyptian pharaohs. "Guys?"

Nothing.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the entire situation, excluding Steve and Tony's apparent talent for finding the one thing about each other that they were insecure about, was the fact that neither Director Fury nor Natasha had said a word to her since they came storming into the lab. It would be nice if she didn't consider it to be a sign that they both might have had suffered a recent stroke or something similarly debilitating. It was, perhaps, the conceited part of her that had come to expect some sort of argument to her presence from the two of them. She wondered if they had finally moved on from thinking her goal in life was to make theirs difficult.

She thought she would like being left alone if it weren't for the fact that the only thing she had to occupy her time was staring at a magical stick that apparently liked to cause problems for everyone it came in contact with. It glowed again, almost as if it could sense her watching it. She leaned back and narrowed her eyes at it for a moment before she realized how pathetic it was to have a starting match with a rock. She looked away from it pointedly and looked at each of the others in turn.

"You people are so petty," Thor's mocking voice cut right across her, forcing her to pay better attention to what they were saying to each other. "And tiny."

He was looking at her again.

She didn't know if she should be offended that he addressed the last part of his sentence to her, or flattered that he didn't address her with the first. Either way, she didn't like the way he kept staring at her and she immediately looked over at the nearest person who wasn't Thor, her gaze happening upon the back of Steve's head. Her eyes trailed down his shoulders, noticing how tensed they looked.

"Yea, this is a team." Bruce snorted derisively and Avery couldn't help but agree with him, not that she ever thought, for even a moment, that she would be included in any sort of team with any of them.

"Agent Romanoff, would you mind escorting Dr. Banner to…"

"Where? You rented my room."

Avery could see the tension on everyone's faces. She dug her fingers into the edge of the metal table and scooted forward so that her feet touched the ground again.

"That was a preca…"

"In case you needed to kill me?" Bruce snapped, silence settling over the entire room as he looked around at each of them. "But you can't. I know, I've tried." There was nothing left for her to look at in the lab without it being too obvious that she was avoiding eye contact. She couldn't look at Bruce however, not now. So she closed her eyes in a pathetic attempt to remove herself from the room and tried to block out what he said next, even if it didn't work. "I got low and I didn't see an end. I had nobody so I ate a bullet and the other guy spit it out. I tried to move on. I was good, I was helping people the best way I could until you pulled me back into this mess and put everybody here at risk."

He took a step back towards the table with the scepter, running his hands over his face. Avery squeezed her hands together behind her back and shuffled in her spot as he moved forward. She didn't know who the other guy was, but she wasn't keen to find out, considering how Natasha had talked about him when she had finally divulged that tiny detail. Really, it was like pulling teeth with that woman. Bruce leaned over and placed his hands on the table, fists clenched. "You want to know my secret? You want to know how I stay calm?" His voice lowered and octave as he reached forward to grab the scepter, turning around to face the rest of them.

"Dr. Banner, put down the scepter." Steve held out his arm, his placating voice low and even. Bruce, for his part, didn't even seem to realize he had picked it up in the first place.

The gem at the top glowed again.

One of the numerous computer's beeped, cutting the tension in the room. Bruce's shoulders visibly relaxed as he set down the scepter and turned to the monitor, fixing his glasses in a way that Avery thought resembled a nervous tick.

"I guess you don't get to see my party trick after all."

"Have you found the tesseract?" Thor asked, stepping up behind Bruce in a way that dwarfed him.

"It's almost there."

"You know, we do have our very own Pinocchio, why don't we use her?" Avery blinked rapidly as all the eyes in the room turned to look at her after Tony brought her into the conversation. Glaring at him for drawing their attention over to her seemed unnecessary, but she couldn't help it. She also couldn't help but notice the nickname he gave her. "What, like your attempts at invisibility were working?"

"You saw the same tapes we did, Stark, you know what happened," Steve said, before Avery could answer. "Loki messed with her the same way he's messing with us. If we can find the tesseract another way without putting her back in with him, we should."

"Simmer down," Tony said, holding his hands up. He pulled the bag of blueberries back out and poured some more into his mouth.

"What is your mother's name?" Thor asked suddenly, staring her down.

"Can you stop staring at me, please? It's really starting to freak me out."

"I mean you no offense, I simply wish to know how you came by your powers," Thor stepped away from Bruce and allowed him to keep narrowing down his search for the tesseract.

"You asked about my mom. Why?"

"I know your face."

"Maybe you've seen her in a movie," Tony offered, voice slightly mocking even if it was hard for the others to tell.

"We have no such thing on my home."

"This seems like a conversation for later," Avery said, shifting away from Thor. "You know when Loki isn't trying to blow something up."

"Gudrun, why are you even here?"

Avery rolled her eyes. She could feel the snark building, despite her best efforts to stop it, and spoke in a tone that was probably inadvisable, given the current atmosphere in the lab. "As in, in this particular room, or on the helicarrier in general?"

"We have one Tony Stark, we don't need another." Tony handed her another blueberry, which she took without even thinking about it and popped it into her mouth. Fury glanced at Bruce before he turned back to look at her. "The two of you are not supposed to be in the same area."

"I finished with Loki."

"And?"

"_And_, I had nowhere else to go." It sounded much more pathetic than she intended it to. She could tell Steve was watching her, along with Natasha, Thor, and Bruce. It was uncomfortable, to say the very least. "Anyway, I talked to Loki and he didn't have anything riveting to say, so I left. And now I'm here."

The computer beeped again. Fury looked at her, then Tony, and finally Steve before he narrowed his eye. "We'll finish this later."

Avery wasn't aware of it, but apparently she let out a quiet noise of discontent that caused Tony to laugh. He leaned over, shaking the bag of blueberries under her nose. "I take it you and Fury go way back."

"I hardly know the guy," Avery said, lip quirking upwards ever so slightly.

"Wait," Bruce trailed off, leaning closer to the computer. "This can't be right…" He didn't finish. He pulled up a keypad and started typing, fingers flying across the screen, completely ignoring the conflict going on behind him.

"Have you found it?" Thor pushed, impatience showing in his voice.

"I can get there the fastest!" Tony threw up his arm, as if he was in class volunteering for something. Steve visibly rolled his eyes.

"It belongs on Asgard. No mortal is a match for its power." Pompousness must be inherent to all Asgardians. Avery felt her lips purse. Tony shoved the bag of blueberries at her and started walking towards the door, fingers twitching at his sides. Avery thought he wanted to flip Thor off. Or all of them. He didn't seem like the type to be particular about that sort of thing.

"You can't go alone," Steve grabbed Tony by the shoulder. Avery, along with everyone else in the lab, it seemed, winced, knowing that it wasn't going to end well. The look on Tony's face indicated as much and she was surprised when he didn't punch Steve right then and there. Maybe he knew it wouldn't do much damage. Still, Avery took a step back so that she was out of their path, finding herself up against the corner of the table the scepter was on. She instantly took a sideways step, distancing herself as it glowed once again.

"Are you going to stop me?"

"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds," Steve seethed.

"I'm not above hitting an old man."

Avery groaned audibly and placed her hand on the table, watching the two of them bicker back and forth.

"Guys, stop." Neither of them noticed her, too busy caught up in their pissing match to pay attention to her or the glowing stone directly behind them. She did, however, and instantly noticed it was now increasing in intensity. That was definitely something to be concerned about. She leaned over, eyeing it up and down. "Uh, should it be doing this?" She asked, no one in particular. She wanted to touch it for some reason, her hand twitching at her side with the desire to do so. She shoved them into her pockets for good measure and leaned over to the side, looking at the scepter and its now completely suspicious glowing stone from another angle. "Guys?"

"Oh my god." She smiled, thinking someone was finally taking notice. She turned around, expecting to see someone standing next to her, but was disappointed to find Tony and Steve still arguing and Bruce standing in front of his computer monitor with a horrified look on his face. Natasha stepped up behind him at some point and peered over his shoulder, as if she was going to ask what he found but never got the chance before the lab exploded.

Avery felt the floor give out underneath her as debris and metal flew everywhere before she finally registered the sound of the explosion. She threw her hands over face as she fell, eyes snapped shut in anticipation of the inevitable crunch. It was only a moment before she was violently yanked to a stop, dangling in a mess of snapped in half wires and sharp metal floor pieces. She waited a moment before she opened her eyes, assessing the damage with a disbelieving look on her face.

She was upside down, for one thing, and staring directly at the floor beneath her, where she could just make out the shapes of Bruce and Natasha through all the dust. She tried to swing up before she found herself running chest and face first into a bundle of sparking wires caught on a piece of the floor that hadn't detached in the explosion. It groaned and swayed for a moment, sending more sparks flying at her face, before it settled on a dull moan in the background. Avery twisted, clawing her hands at the thick wire wrapped around her hip, anchoring her in place and cutting off circulation to her right leg. She ran her nail along it to see if she could cut it and let out a frustrated sigh when she realized that it would be impossible. When she didn't think up was an option, she looked down, fanning the air to get a clear look at Natasha and Bruce.

"Are you okay?" She called, squinting as another one of the wires sparked.

Neither of them responded.

"Natasha?" She called again, voice strained as dust filled her lungs. She finally caught a clear view of Natasha's red hair against the darkness. She was pinned underneath something, squirming in her spot and waving her arm to someone that Avery couldn't see. She would have thought it was Bruce if she didn't see him writing on the floor next to Natasha, groaning like he was in pain. They were just far enough down that the height, combined with all the blood rushing to her head, made her vision spin. They were close enough, however, that she could see everything that was going on.

Like the greenish hue of Bruce's skin.

"Dr. Banner?"

He looked up at her and groaned, neck muscles bulging.

"Bruce, listen to me. You have to fight it. Listen to my voice," Natasha said, voice strained as she struggled to pull her leg out from underneath the steel beam. Avery didn't understand fully, but she thought this might have something to do with why her and Bruce weren't allowed to be in the same room. She remembered the way he fled the observation room when she woke up from sedation, hands clenched into fists at his sides and muscles shaking. He looked so much worse now. So much worse, in fact, that Natasha was visibly scared. "Bruce, I swear we will get you through this." Natasha slammed her fist onto the ground, the motion desperate. Avery twisted around, straining to see Bruce's face. She slipped slightly as the wire lost a little bit of grip on her leg. He groaned again as his back rippled and his clothes tore at the seams.

Bruce was growing. And green.

That was certainly a first for her.

"Stop turning green, stop turning green. Please stop." Avery closed her eyes and held her arms out over her hand, fingers playing outwards institutionally. She blocked out his noises of pain and tried to focus, clearing her mind as best she could beyond her repetition of her desire for him to remain his very human and very pinkish self. It probably wasn't a secret but she had made Thor use his powers so she had to try and see if it worked in reverse. Of course, the might not even be powers.

"What…" Bruce struggled to breathe, but he was speaking so Avery took that as a sign that maybe it was working.

Natasha, seeing the opportunity presented to her, yanked her leg out from the metal beam and scrambled backwards. She pressed herself against the wall, hand trailing down to her gun holstered at her hip. She looked up, lip quivering. Avery wondered if she wanted to cry or if it was an involuntary reaction that came out despite her best efforts. She nodded at Avery and stood up, keeping her back against the wall like she wanted to melt into it. Bruce groaned loudly, the noise reverberating through the underbelly of the helicarrier.

"No green," Avery panted, focusing even harder until she felt something warm dribbling down from her nose and over her brow. Her eyes crossed. "Please, no green."

Her fingers were so splayed out they hurt, but she kept pushing. There was something different about it this time, something painful and sharp that made the room spin and her muscles pulsate. Her hands twitched and for a moment she thought she lost whatever control she had. Bruce let out a muffled yell and stumbled backwards until he fell sideways off the small platform he and Natasha were on.

He stopped shaking and Avery let out a small puff of air, thinking that perhaps the crisis was averted for the time being. She breathed deeply, shoving her nose into her shoulder to wipe away some of the blood, and kept pushing. She wished, once again, she could see what her powers looked like, if for no other reason than to see if they were even working or if she was delaying the inevitable. Bruce slammed his hands on the ground, denting the floor and shaking the walls around them.

"No green, no green, no green," Avery repeated the mantra over and over, feeling her energy, and control more importantly, slipping. The blood pounded in her head, dulling all sounds except the rushing in her ears. Natasha said something, something that Bruce didn't like before she turned and took three steps back, distancing herself from him enough that if she needed to she could run and have a bit of a head start from Bruce.

Avery didn't really think it was Bruce anymore.

Her vision blurred slightly and she shook her head, flinging blood everywhere for a moment before she realized she had lost it.

He shook so violently she thought his bones would break. He started clawing at his own clothes, his body growing too big for them. His thigh muscles split the seam of his pants, his bones elongating far past normal human proportions. He ripped off his shoes as his feet jutted out, toes curl down into the metal beneath him. His chest expanded, his arms, his hands, his head, his everything grew so big he didn't even look like himself anymore. He didn't look like much of anything except big and terrifying and utterly not human.

And he was so very green.

Bruce, or what used to be Bruce, noticed Natasha first and Avery, in one of her more selfish moments, was thankful she was trussed up like a trapped animal fifteen feet above them. She covered her nose with her hand and tried to calm her breathing as she watched Bruce push his way through metal canisters and steal structure like it was nothing, howling and snarling as he set his sights on Natasha. She looked so small and Avery imagined Bruce could break her in half.

And then she was gone and Avery didn't know what happened. Bruce tore off after her, snarling like and groaning.

She suddenly felt something warm slipping over her forehead, thinner than blood and stemming from her eyes.

She was crying.

It was so stupid, but she couldn't stop it. She scrubbed the hand not staunching her nosebleed over her eyes, feeling her panic building. She couldn't see Natasha, but she could hear Bruce thundering through the facility, the walls and floor shaking. Any one of the noises could be him throwing Natasha into a wall, or squeezing her until she popped, or slamming her into the floor until she was nothing more than a bloody pulp.

The wall shook violently and Avery slipped, the wire wrapped around hip burned her through her pants and she plummeted towards the floor. It caught on something she couldn't see, saving her before she hit the floor.

She realized she needed to move. She felt frozen for a moment, fear building up inside her until she let out a fractured sob. She had wanted to cry so badly earlier, thinking it would make her feel better, but now she hated it. It didn't solve anything and it just made it harder for her to breathe and the horrendous pressure in her head increase.

Swinging there for a moment, Avery made up her mind, half from fear, half from sheer self-preservation. Avery twisted upwards and grabbed onto the wire wrapped around her hip. She pulled on it while wrenching her hip sideways until it finally loosened up enough for her to pull her leg out. She dangled for a moment, catching her breath, before she hooked her foot onto the tangled knot that had trapped her in the first place and flipped so that she was standing on the knot, rather than dangling upside down.

Up was better than down, she told herself, so she started climbing. She took it slowly, slipping more times than she could count, and ignored the pain in her hip and the blood dripping from her nose. Steam billowed downwards from the hole in the ceiling, causing her to rethink her plan for a moment before Bruce broke something else. He made up her mind more effectively than anything else could, spurring her to climb faster until she could no longer see the floor beneath her. She picked her way through the mess of wires, metal shards, and steam before she finally was able to reach up and grab onto what she thought was the mangled remains of the lab floor and heave herself away from the wires.

Avery threw herself onto the lab floor when she finally reached the top and breathed deeply. She could ignore the way the floor shook for half a moment if she could catch her breath, but it seemed impossible. The ceiling spun but it wasn't much worse than the way the floor seemed to ripple like ocean waves. Avery sat up on her elbows and looked around the lab, sickness settling in her stomach at the sight.

It was a mess. The place where the window used to be opened up to nothingness as the air was sucked out like a vacuum. The computers that Tony and Bruce used were in pieces scattered all around the room, some smoldering, some barely damaged beyond a few scratches. They weren't what caught her eye, however. The scepter sat balanced on a piece of bent metal, bouncing dangerously close to the gaping hole in the window.

It was a miracle it was even still there.

Or perhaps a curse. It dipped, sliding downwards off it precarious position and towards the open sky.

She scrambled to her knees without thinking and slid forward just enough to wrap her right hand around the cold metal end of the scepter before it could fall. She got an eyeful of the vast expanse beneath the helicarrier for her efforts and her vision instantly blurred again. She curled the scepter into her chest and threw herself backwards, skidding over metal and glass and all other manner of things that would probably leave a fair amount of bruises and cuts later.

She kept moving backwards until her back hit something solid. "Keep it together, Aves." She closed her eyes and pulled the scepter closer to her chest, hands shaking and nose dripping. "Just because someone just turned into a giant green monster doesn't mean you get to freak out. Natasha certainly didn't freak out and she's the one being chase by..."

"This is it. Break it down." The voice startled her, breaking her out of her slight anxiety attack. She looked up, staring at the door with wide eyes. She didn't know that voice. She stood up slowly, keeping her back against the wall, and stepped sideways. She could fit under one of the desks, she thought, if she didn't breathe too deeply and was willing to shove her knees up against her chest. "That engine will be down soon and we don't want to be here when this thing goes down."

Avery just managed to shove herself under the desk when the door slid open. The scepter pressed against her breastbone and the sharp tip scraped along the underside of the desk, but otherwise she fit with just enough room to spare that she wouldn't go spilling out the sides. The stone glowed, illuminating her entire hiding place. She tried to cover it with her hand but only succeeded in cutting herself on the edge.

"Find it."

Avery closed her eyes and tried to curl herself in as small a ball as possible. There were four of them, if she counted their footsteps correctly, and they sounded like they wouldn't care how much she told them she wasn't supposed to be there.

She didn't even know if that was an excuse or if it was true anymore.

"It isn't here." One of them came close to the desk, their footsteps stopping just next to her. She cracked open one eye and looked at the heavy boot directly to her left. It was a man's boot and steel toed. Perfect for smashing fingers and breaking ribs. She gulped and pushed the scepter away from her chest, pointing it at the foot. She didn't even know how to use it, but she imagined it would do some damage if she shoved it into their foot like a knife.

The door opened again. She froze, mouth open and hands clenched.

She involuntarily screamed when the first gunshot rang through the lab. She covered her mouth with her hand and scooted backwards, knowing there was nowhere to go but trying anyway. Her hands slipped on the metal staff, sweating profusely. She couldn't move, couldn't think. All she heard was gunshots and bodies hitting the floor.

The gunshots stopped almost as quickly as they started, throwing the lab into silence. It didn't comfort her. Her breathing was erratic and damning, making her attempts at hiding useless. They would probably kill her. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the moment, wishing that she had been able to do something to help Bruce and Natasha. Perhaps if she had actually worked harder rather than just spending her days on base in a never ending parade of bitter she might have been able to prevent Bruce from changing in the first place. She made a mental note to work harder on that if she survived. Also to tell Bruce that green certainly wasn't his color.

"You can come out now." That voice she recognized, although she wasn't able to put a name with it at the moment. She didn't move as the person walked over to her hiding place and bent down.

She stared at them for a moment before she screamed and punched them square in the face, sending them flying backwards into the wall with a thud. She was proud of herself until she she saw who it was and promptly screamed again.

* * *

**PLEASE READ!**

**Hi hi, I hope everyone is having a wonderful last few weeks of summer before school goes back! I have been crazy busy and finally found some time to work on this story after being away from home and in a different country for the last several months. **

**So, I just wanted to address a few things before going forward with this story just so you guys know what to expect and if you want to stick around. **

**1\. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D will not be included. I say this because so many people have asked and, while I wish I could find a way to include that timeline, I just don't have the space to do so properly without taking away screen time from the MCU movie characters. Sorry! **

**2\. I have some major long term plans for this story that involve using the MCU movies as a framework, but will diverge drastically as time moves on. I have always felt that the movies do not give enough time to the characters to develop their relationships properly so that is something I am going to focus on heavily. Avery is an independent character and I think it is hugely important to not make her entire story revolve around her love interest (who is yet to be made clear ;) so she will be spending time apart from them and doing things on her own.  
**

**3\. All MCU movies will be discussed, but some will not be shown, such as Captain Marvel, Dr. Strange, Ant-man, Black Panther, and Guardians of the Galaxy. **

**4\. The Spider-man I am going to use will be based off Garfield Spider-man. I planned his part before the recast and have some pretty exciting things planned for him later, so I just thought you all should know so you're not confused later on. **

**5\. I will be playing with the Marvel characters not in the movies and giving them some screen time. These include: Matt Murdock (Daredevil), the Fantastic Four, Black Cat, Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Eli Bradley, and a ton of Norse mythology characters. **

**FINALLY, I just wanted to say sorry for how long this part of the story is taking to get done. I am so tired of the Avengers plot (thanks to the supersaturation of ff and watching it about 4 million times) and it has felt like it's dragging on forever because of how little I can change the plot. I have finally written enough to get a back stock, however, so **

_**UPDATES EVERY FRIDAY for the next couple of weeks! **_

_**THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU 3 **_


	15. Chapter 15

_-Chapter Fifteen-_

* * *

"Why are you screaming at me?"

Avery paused, mouth still open in a scream and stared at the man in front of her. Phil Coulson did not look impressed. She didn't exactly blame him, however, consider she had just coldcocked him in the face just for leaning down to look at her. It wasn't her finest moment. She blushed and pulled her hand back, wincing when she noticed the tiniest amount of blood on her largest knuckle. That was probably from his nose. "Sorry, I panicked."

"You might want to work your response a little bit." Coulson rubbed his jaw and stepped back, allowing her enough room to crawl out from under the table.

"Oh man, I'm sorry." Avery looked around for something to stop the bleeding before she noticed he already had his own handkerchief out. He dabbed his nose briefly before handing it over to her, confusing her for a moment.

"You need it more than I do."

It was truly amazing how quickly things changed in a matter of moments. One moment she was hanging upside down watching a very respectable man, and she assumed as much based simply on the fact that he didn't actively seem evil by her estimation, turn into a giant green poster for everything wrong with steroids. She would have thought that that little incident would be seared in her mind forever. She was certain it would be making a reappearance in her nightmares for months to come, but had been able to forget about it for a moment. The look on Bruce's face right before he changed flashed again.

Her hand shook. Men turning into monsters didn't happen. It shouldn't happen.

"Thanks." Avery took it and tried to wipe away the blood without Coulson noticing the shaking too much. "Is Natasha okay?"

"Agent Romanoff hasn't maintained contact."

"I couldn't stop Bruce from..." Avery dabbed harder, hands shaking so much she could hardly do the job properly. She gave up after a moment and tried to hand the cloth back, which Coulson politely refused with a subtle shake of his head. The disgust didn't even show on his face, which impressed Avery. She should ask him about that later. "

"It was a good punch, by the way." Avery threw the handkerchief aside and readjusted her grip on the scepter. Even though it freaked her out, she didn't really want to let go of it until someone, someone who seemed like they knew what they were doing, someone like Coulson, told her it was okay. "Are you alright?"

"Well, I can't say I've been worse." Avery glanced down at the scepter in her hand significantly before she looked around the room and the hole she had just gollumed her way out of. The five bodies, she had miscounted, littering the floor made everything seem so much worse.

"They aren't dead." Coulson said, noticing the horrified look on her face.

"You shot them."

"They shot at me first." Coulson's voice was so calm, Avery would almost assume this sort of thing happened to him all the time. Maybe it did. She had sort of made the decision, based solely on her own personal annoyance, to generally ignore most of the goings on in S.H.I.E.L.D in favor of stewing in her own frustration.

Obviously, that wasn't really working out for her.

She was probably going to have to get used to the fact that she couldn't distance herself from what was going on. She sighed and pointed to the bodies, making up her mind. She hated it, but she supposed she was long overdue for a reality check about the situation she found herself in.

"Who are they?"

"Some of them are S.H.I.E.L.D, some of them are hired mercenaries who specialize in this sort of thing."

"General mayhem and destruction."

"That abouts, yes."

"Then, you can take this." Avery pressed the scepter towards Coulson, making up her mind quite quickly that she wanted nothing to do with it. It was glowing too much for her liking and it put off a smell that made her queasy. It wasn't a real smell she was certain, just the sort that she had made up to explain why she felt like her stomach had suddenly found a home in her butt. Or something like that. When Coulson didn't show any sign of being inclined to take it from her, she shoved it towards him again. "C'mon, take it."

"Line of custody."

"You're making that up."

"You don't know that."

"I do, because I'm pretty sure this isn't Law &amp; Order and you sir, are no Stabler."

Coulson shrugged and moved around the lab, bending down over the bodies and checking them for spare bullets, Avery assumed, and anything that could be used to hurt them just in case they woke up. "I'm going to assume you meant no offense."

"No more than when I punched you in the face."

Coulson paused over the body nearest to the door and looked up at her, eyebrows raised. "You're different that I imagined."

"Well, we don't exactly know each other and this isn't exactly a normal situation."

"I've monitored your progress." Coulson stood up and put two magazines for his gun in suit jacket pocket. He popped the current one out of his gun and replaced it before he did the same with a second gun he'd pilfered. He turned around to all the bodies and counted them, eyes raking over them as if he was assessing them and Avery got the distinct impression he wanted to see if they had any other weapons other than the ones he'd already pilfered. She wondered briefly if he had x-ray vision before she realized that was stupid.

Of course, it wasn't any more stupid than a man turning green.

"It must have been pretty boring," Avery said, running her fingers along the edge of the scepter absentmindedly as she tried to push Bruce to the back of her touched the smooth part just underneath the stone, staring at it. It was sort of pretty for something that caused so many problems. She poked it and immediately regretted it as it emitted a violent burst of energy that burned a hole in the wall across from her.

Her mouth dropped open.

"Don't do that again."

"Right." Avery squeezed the cold metal tighter and gulped. "Are you sure you don't want to take this from me?"

"Not particularly," Coulson said, walking back over to her. He was taller than she thought, her face coming to just above his shoulder. She had only seen him a couple of times and it was mostly just in passing or when she managed to sneak away to a place she wasn't supposed to be, but she had always thought he would be short. "We need to move, someone will have heard the guns," He paused and glanced at the scepter accusatorily. He smirked slightly, however, so she could tell he wasn't too upset. "And now that little explosion."

"That was my bad."

"Here, take this." Coulson handed her a small earpiece, which she took without question. Avery held it for a moment before she pressed it into her ear and twisted it around until it didn't feel like it was going to pop out at some critical point. Like when she was in danger of being shot at by marauding ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. henchmen, which she really needed to have a chat with Director Fury about at a later date. "I'll need to be able to get in contact with you."

"Aren't we sticking together?"

"No, we aren't."

Avery tried not to let her sudden feeling on apprehension show on her face. "And you're certain of this decision?"

"You've been trained for this."

"I'm going to be perfectly honest and say I didn't really pay much attention during that time."

"You know more than you think."

"Obviously not enough to know to _not_ mess with the magical scepter in my hand."

"I can guarantee you know enough to go sit in a corner and keep me posted about what's happening on the detention level."

"Coulson, look, I really don't know how much help I'll be beyond screaming a lot and bursting into tears at the worse possible times."

"You're all I've got right now and I need your help. Do you think you can do that?"

Avery thought about it for a moment before nodded, not entirely sure what she was agreeing to. "Where will you be?"

"Armory."

"With all the weapons Steve found?" Avery glanced sideways at the large gun currently left abandoned on the lab floor. Steve's fingerprint indentations were still clearly visible, reminding her of how angry he had seemed when he discovered them. He had said something else, something about them being similar to some secret organization, but Avery hadn't really been paying attention. She should work on that. She did pay enough attention to know that Steve didn't like the idea of what was in that armory. That was enough to give her pause about whatever Coulson was planning on doing. She stared at him, then back at the gun, before settling her gaze on him fully, trying to not look like she was disrespecting him in any way. Unlike with Fury, she had zero desire to sass incessantly around Coulson. "Not that I'm questioning you or anything and not that I actually know anything about the super obviously top secret weapons, but Steve didn't seem to think using them was such a good idea."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." If the situation didn't seem so serious, Avery would point out the cliché of that little line for him.

"So why don't you use that one?" Avery asked, pointing to the gun.

"That one isn't ready to be used."

"So it's just for show?"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't actually say anything," Avery pointed out, earning a small smirk. "But, I guess that's whatever, considering."

"Any other questions?"

"Yes, wait," Avery paused, wracking her brain. "No, not really. It can wait."

"In that case, take this." He tried to hand her the other gun in his hand. She held it by the end, grimacing at the very idea. She didn't like guns. She was quite frankly worried about anyone who did. S.H.I.E.L.D. taught her to use a gun and she had managed to get good enough to hit a target when she was standing still, but that was about it and she had almost shot her instructors more times than the target. Her hands still wouldn't stop shaking. She instantly felt pity for anyone one the other end of the barrel from her. It would be horrible to be shot, but even more so by someone who didn't know what they were doing. The indignity of it alone would probably hurt more than any shot she could get off.

Coulson noticed and placed a soft hand on her shoulder, calming her ever so slightly. "You need to keep a steady hand."

"I really don't like this plan. You should know that."

"Duly noted." Coulson's face became more serious, if that was possible. "You know how to get to the detention level?"

"I think can I remember the location of my most recent emotional trauma."

"When you get there, tell me everything you see."

"Like whether or not Loki is still in his cell."

"That'd be the most important."

"What do I do with this?" Avery gestured looked down at the scepter. "Because, I have to say, if this is why he's staging all of this, it seems like about the worst plan ever for me to go there. Back there, I mean. Look, it didn…"

"Avery, I'm only going to say this once because as we speak hostiles are trying to take control of an airship and knock it out of the sky. This isn't the time for you act like a coward."

"I wasn…"

"I know. I know that when it comes right down to it you'll do what's necessary."

"You don't know that."

"Are you really going to argue with me about how good of a person you are?"

"No, I'm just pointing out the pattern that I've followed for ten years. Mainly, that I'm not the sort that sticks in one place for long. And I'm certainly not the kind to go back some place where something bad happened to me."

"Then it seems like you're overdue for a bit of a change. Now, are you going to help me, or am I going to have to pull someone away from helping keep people on this ship safe?"

Avery stared at him, mouth slightly agape. When he phrased it like that she didn't really much of choice beyond nodding lamely. "Good. Now, do you know how to use that gun?"

"You probably should have asked that before you handed it to me."

"I'm just checking."

"I aim and pull the trigger."

"The safety has to be off," Coulson reminded her.

"I switch off the safety, aim, pull the trigger."

"You're eyes have to open."

"Coulson, you're not helping."

"You've never shot anyone," Coulson said, quite straight-faced despite the fact that were talking about the possibility of her shooting someone. Her blood ran cold at the thought and her hands shook even worse. "The best advice I can give you is that if you're going to point it at someone you have to mean it. You never raise your gun to someone you don't intend to kill. You have to mean if you're going to take a life."

"I can't do that."

"Maybe not. But, we've talked way too long. Get down to the detention level and tell me what you see. I'll get there as quick as I can."

Somehow, she doubted this was going to go as smoothly as Coulson thought, but she had been wrong before.

* * *

Avery didn't know which was more damning, the sound of her own erratic heartbeat or the frantic nature her breathing had taken on. Both were likely to get her killed, so she blocked them both out and pressed herself into her little corner furthered and focused on trying not to be seen. It had gone smoothly since Coulson had given her her little task. So smoothly, in fact, Avery was concerned she had done something wrong.

There should be more people shooting at her.

She felt slightly psychotic for feeling like something was missing without that, but there she was peering out to watch the door that led to Loki wondering why nobody was there and half-wishing they were just so she could confirm that Loki was still in his cell and not hiding behind her waiting to kill her. Or torment her more. She didn't think she could mentally handle that after Bruce.

As it was she was having a hard time focusing every time she ship shuddered. She kept imagining Bruce crashing through the walls and killing her then and there.

She shook her head, forcing herself to focus on keeping watch. Coulson wouldn't be happy if she failed. She pressed her finger to the earpiece, listening in to all the voice shouting orders at each other. She thought she could hear Tony and Steve yelling about turbines mixed in with all the other agents and staff trying to keep the threat from spreading. Apparently she was one of those agents too.

That was a development that she would have to ask Fury, and Coulson for that matter, about later.

When Avery peered out again she nearly got decapitated by a scarlet blur. She threw herself backwards just in time to avoid get smacked in the face with a giant hammer right as Thor noticed her crouched there. He skidded to a stop in front of her, the momentum of his movement causing his cape to billow around him for a moment before it settled at his feet.

"Lady Avery, what are you doing?"

"Keeping watch. What are you doing?"

"Keeping watch on who?"

"You're brother," Avery said, eyebrows furrowing when he got that same look on his face that he always seemed to be sporting around her.

"Adopted."

"Semantics don't really matter when it comes to cuckoo banana pants in there." She gestured with the hand holding the scepter, immediately drawing his attention.

"You have Loki's scepter."

"That I do. Do you want it?"

"No," Thor said quickly. "I have no use for it other than to keep it out of his hands."

"God, could somebody just take this?" She paused, lips pursing. "Is it inappropriate for me to use that, you know, considering your possible god-like status?"

"I find no offense in your manner of speech."

"Well, that's good. But seriously, please take this."

"I cannot wield both Mjolnir and the scepter. I will deal with Loki then return to relieve you of your burden, Lady Avery."

"What? You could just say 'I'll be back in a jiffy'."

"I have no concept of the length of a jiffy."

"Shorter than lickety-split and longer than a shake."

"You Midgardians use such strange language." Thor eyed her and the look of confusion intensified and Avery could instantly sense his desire to probe her for information. She never thought she would be thankful for Loki, but there she was, thanking her lucky stars that Thor and her couldn't stand and chat.

"I'll stay here."

"Loki will want his scepter returned. You are not safe this close to him."

"That's what I told Coulson."

"The Son of Coul has not dealt with someone as dangerous as Loki. He will stop at nothing until the earth is his. You should find some place to hide until Loki is no longer a threat. Take the scepter with you."

"Uh huh. So shouldn't you…" She trailed off, gesturing to the large doors to the dentition room. Thor nodded and gripped the hammer, mjollmama or whatever, tighter in his hand.

"Stay here."

"Wasn't planning on moving."

He stared at her for a moment longer before he rolled his shoulders back and marched into the detention room, hair and cape blowing fabulously behind him. She watched him leave with her mouth slightly agape. He couldn't be serious with all that. She griped both the gun and the scepter a little tighter and pressed herself back into her tiny little alcove, straining her ears to listen to Thor hopefully kicking Loki's ass.

She waited.

And she kept waiting.

For someone with such a high muscle to body fat ratio, it sure did take Thor and long time to get a solid hit in. Maybe Loki was dodging a lot.

"No!"

Avery stopped breathing.

She could hear mumbling. Smarmy mumbling. She didn't need three guesses to know who that was.

She gave it thirty more seconds before she realized that Thor obviously wasn't winning. She swore under her breath and tried to steady the horrendous shaking in her hands. She held the scepter against her chest to free up her hand to flip off the safety on her gun as she stood up straighter.

"What a time to start being brave, Aves. Just in time to get yourself killed. Brilliant."

She thought she might vomit.

Something slammed in the detention center.

"Dammit."

Avery blamed Coulson for this particular act of stupidity. There was no other explanation other than his little pep talk niggling his way into her brain and making her think that she could do something other than run in the opposite direction. And that is exactly what she should do. She ran into the detention center, holding both the gun and the scepter aloft like she actually knew what she was doing. She definitely remembered why she shouldn't be allowed to make impulse decisions. Like this one, for instance. This one was one of the worst.

"Lady Avery stop!" Thor held up a hand to stop her from behind the glass in Loki's cell.

"What are you…?"

"Ah, another to join the party."

"Shit."

Loki stepped up from behind Avery. She turned around and held up the gun, arm shaking horribly, while she tried, and failed, to hide the scepter behind her body. She should eat more if she wanted to be effective at using her own girth as a means of fooling people. Loki smirked at her pathetic attempts. "Mortals are so foolish, aren't they brother. And here I thought they were actually going to make it difficult for me." He reached around her, practically laughing at the way she held the gun up in front of her, and plucked the scepter out of her hands like it was nothing. Her finger itched over the trigger.

She could end it if she pulled the trigger.

"You've brought me a gift."

"Step back."

"Are you going to kill me?"

There was no excuse for her not to. And yet she couldn't. "Give the scepter back."

"I think I'll keep it." Loki turned around and walked over to the control panel. Even when his back was to her she couldn't pull the trigger. "Take that from her before she hurts herself."

Avery's arm was grabbed from the side. The man twisted her hand until she dropped the gun. He stuck it into his belt and pulled her arm back behind her, wrenching it so violently she heard something pop. Loki smirked at the sound. She struggled against the man holding her, kicking his shins until he finally released her enough for her to scramble away from him. She crawled on the floor until she was only a few feet away from the cell and Thor, not that she could get to him. To be perfectly honest, she wasn't entirely sure how he ended up there in the first place. She tried to see if he was okay but only managed to check his face for injuries before she was pulled back by her hair roughly. Loki's guard slammed her face into the metal grating, leaving her certain she would be stuck with waffle face for the rest of her life. Which might actually be quite short, now that she thought about it.

She tried to grab him around the ankle for a moment before he stepped on her arm, effectively pinning her down and cutting off her air supply in one swift movement.

"She reminds me of someone," Loki mused, although Avery couldn't see him. If she had to hazard a guess, she would say he looked smug. He always looked smug. She wanted punch the smirk off his face and she could only imagine how Thor felt having been raised with him. "Freyja, perhaps, but I don't think that's quite it."

"Release her."

"But we're having so much fun. Come now brother, surely you know by now."

"This is not one of your games, Loki. She has done nothing to harm you."

"No, perhaps not. She did bring me my scepter so I suppose I could reward her."

"Let her go in peace."

"But then again, she did aim one of those barbaric mortal weapons at me." Avery heard footsteps coming closer before she felt the pressure on her back release enough for her to breathe. A hand wrapped around her hair and yanked upwards, contorting her so that she was facing Thor. "Look at her."

"She claims to be of Midgard."

"And yet her face and abilities say otherwise."

"Enough."

"You never were very good. Let's see how much of a Midgardian she truly is shall we. We'll throw her in with you and if she survives then she is obviously not what she claims to be. If not then…"

"You would have more innocent blood on your hands." Avery was yanked even higher to the point she thought her neck might snap. She felt a few tears escape as she tried to claw Loki's hands off her.

"What's a few drops when compared to a flood?"

"This is madness."

Avery could feel her nose crunch when Loki slammed her face back into the floor. Blood spurted everywhere, making it look like a crime scene had a baby. She was able to lift up just enough to avoid too much pain, but the swelling mixed with the blood was making it hard to see. She lifted her hips and tried to roll, only to be stopped by a knee on her upper back, compressing her spine down into the hard metal floor. "This is mischief, brother."

Loki was cracked. He had to be. Avery fought against the man holding her down, feeling very much like she was being squished. She could feel everything caving in on itself as she struggled to breathe. Her lungs strained, trying to expand and failing, leaving her spluttering and red faced. The man pressed her down harder and she felt something crack, making her cry out in pain. That was probably a rib. At least, she hoped it was only a rib. She had no plans of spending the rest of her life in a wheel chair because some outer space nut job decided he wanted to conquer the earth as a hobby.

And suddenly the pressure was gone. The man slumped sideways, landing half on her half off. She scrambled out from under him and groaned at the feeling in her chest. She had definitely broken a rib. Or maybe like five. She touched her side, probing for a moment as she laid there struggling to breathe.

"Step back, please."

Avery sat up immediately at the sound of Coulson's voice. She winced while trying to smile, making her look slightly deranged. Coulson glanced at her and she thought she saw him return the gesture before he stepped further into the room, holding the gun in his hand up higher. She could see why he wanted to get that one so badly. It looked positively lethal.

Even so, she reached sideways and grabbed her gun from the unconscious man's belt next to her. just to be safe She did have to admit it made him look like a total badass. That was something she didn't expect. She had never taken him to be the type, but there he was standing up to someone who might, probably not, be a god.

Loki took a step back, eyebrows raised. Avery used the railing to sit up further before she pulled herself into a painful standing position. Her hand shook again forcing her to steady it against her thigh.

"We started working on this after you sent the destroyer to kill Thor. Even I don't have any idea what it does. Want to find out?"

For a moment Avery thought Coulson had succeeded in intimidating Loki enough for him to step away from the control panel.

That's why it was so horrifying when Loki appeared behind him and stabbed him in the chest with the sharp end of the scepter. Blood spilled out from the wound the moment Loki removed the scepter. Avery thought Thor screamed, but all she could really hear was the pounding in her ears. She raised her arm automatically and shot, the bullet barely catching Loki in the shoulder before he pressed the button on the control panel that caused the floor to drop out underneath Thor.

His shout was drowned out by the air vacuum. Avery gripped railing, not knowing where she was meant to look. Thor was currently bouncing around through the air like a hamster stuck in its ball and Loki didn't seem to care. His indifference scared her. He wiped the end of the scepter off and turned away from the control panel, gaze settling on her after a moment.

She immediately raised the gun, finger shaking over the trigger. She should kill him. It should be easy after everything he had just done, but when she went to squeeze the trigger again, she found she couldn't.

"Are you going to use that one me again, or are you simply going to stand there breathing at me?"

"Don't move."

"You're not exactly in the position to be giving me orders."

"I'll shoot you."

"Again? You tried that once and it didn't seem to do much. It stings a bit, I'll give you that, but overall this is almost as pathetic as your last attempt to intimidate me."

Avery raised it up higher, fighting to keep the tears out of her eyes. "Please, stop. Just drop the scepter, please."

"No."

"You're going to lose." Coulson sounded like he was struggling to get each word out. Avery took a step towards him but was stopped by a look from Loki. He shook his head, mockingly, forcing her stand still as Coulson lay bleeding out.

"Am I?"

"It's in your nature."

Loki smirked and turned to look at Coulson slumped against the wall. "Your heroes are scattered, your fortress falls from the sky, the best and brightest of your organization can't even manage to aim well enough to actually kill me when I'm standing directly in front of them. Tell me, where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

"I don't think…"

Loki flew backwards through the wall, arms and back slamming into something that made a crunching noise upon impact. Avery felt an unnatural and vicious amount of satisfaction at seeing him struggling to get back up. She took the opportunity to run over to Coulson. She skidded to a halt next to him, glancing over her shoulder at Loki once to make sure he was still down while she pulled off her jacket to press against the mangled wound on Coulson's chest.

The blood spurted out over her hands when she pressed down harder. She could feel where the hole was, feel the torn muscle and the weakening of his pulse under her hands.

"Hey, Coulson. Look at me," She said, voice quiet. She glanced over at Loki again. He was moving, pushing aside the metal and debris to stand up. "You're going to be fine."

"And I thought I was the liar." Loki stumbled out onto the walkway, bending down to pick up the scepter. His movements were slightly labored on the side she shot him, but not enough to stop him from walking past them. He paused at the door and smiled, eyebrows quirking upwards in a way that infuriated her and terrified her all at the same time. She reached down for the gun but froze when Loki lifted the scepter up and aimed it directly at her. Her hand hovered over the weapon as he turned the scepter on Coulson. She immediately held her hands up and shook her head, hands shaking violently. He smirked one more time before he turned and left.

"Why didn't...why didn't you shoot him?" Coulson coughed up blood. Avery used her right hand to keep her jacket pressed on his wound while she reached up her left hand to wipe the blood off his chin.

"He would have killed you," She said, turning all her attention to keeping him from bleeding out. It wasn't working. It seemed like he was loosing so much more than he should. Her hands were covered; the floor, the crisp white shirt he wore, her jacket. It was everywhere. She pressed both her hands to his chest and sat up on her knees, hoping that she would have better leverage.

"I'm..." Coulson trailed off, coughing up more blood.

"No, no, no. Hey, focus. Medical is probably on their way. Someone is coming and they're going to help you. You'll be okay, I promise." She could feel his heartbeat getting slower, hear the sound of his erratic breathing matching her own. She pressed her finger to her earpiece, speaking so that someone would hear them and come and help. "You're going to be okay."

She must have said it a hundred times over by the time medical arrived. By that point, not much could be done.

Coulson was gone.

* * *

Avery slumped to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest. Fury had said something to her before he left but she hadn't heard him. She couldn't hear much of anything, in fact, besides the sounds of Coulson's breathing playing over and over in her head.

She hardly noticed Tony walking in and he didn't notice her.

They stayed like that for long time. Neither of them speaking.

She had a shot. She had _the_ shot and she couldn't take it.

Avery leaned her face against the cool metal of the railing and squeezed it, hugging it as if it could keep her in one place. Her hands had felt uncomfortably warm since Coulson, forcing her, almost like a nervous tick, to rub them against her thigh over and over again until they felt raw to the touch. She knew Tony was watching her, but she couldn't stop. She could feel the blood and she hated it, so kept wiping, and would keep wiping until she couldn't feel anything anymore.

She glanced over her shoulder at Tony, wondering if she should say something to him. He seemed like he knew Coulson well, more than she did at least. People usually said something in these sorts of situations, but she remembered how much she hated when people tried to say something they thought was comforting to her after her mother died. There weren't many people who noticed when she died, but there were a few and they were incessant with their well wishes. She hadn't talked to people for a week after that. Maybe Tony would want that.

She felt angry just thinking about it and even that felt wrong at the moment. She wrapped her arms around the railing and swung her legs back and forth, unsure of where she was supposed to be looking. Looking at Tony would be intrusive to his own grief, but she couldn't look at where Coulson's body had been without feeling an almost unbearable amount of guilt spring up in her chest. She couldn't look at the place where Thor had fallen without the inevitable sickness that settled in her gut.

She couldn't look at her hands and see the blood.

The only option she had left was staring at her feet for the time being, knowing that she should move at some point. Tony seemed to be the same way, but then again, he could be feeling none of the emotions she had unfairly, and without reasoning, ascribed to him and was simply taking the moment to think things over without Steve, or Fury, or anyone else butting in on his thoughts.

That would probably last a grand total of five minutes before some other impending disaster came up. Such as the fact that Loki was gone and now had his glowing stick of doom to help him.

Even thinking about that was better than thinking about Coulson.

She thought that if she had known all of this was going to happen she would have faked her own death when S.H.I.E.L.D. came knocking. Pretending to be dead had to be better than this. At least then she wouldn't feel so much gut wrenching and never ending guilt.

"Tell me a joke." Avery looked up at the sound of Tony's voice, surprised he was even speaking at all. She was even more surprised at what he was asking but didn't argue when she saw the look on his face. "Go on then, I could use a laugh."

She swallowed thickly and thought of all the jokes she knew, which was not very many by her estimation, and filtered all the one's out that had anything to do with death, sickness, and general sadness.

"What's something that red and bad for your teeth?"

Tony sighed and sat down next to her, mimicking her position with his hands over the metal bar. He rubbed his hand over his face and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "A brick."

"You've heard that one before?"

"No, I'm just smarter than you," Tony said, leaning his head against the vertical rail to his left. "You can do better than that, kid."

"What's Forrest Gump's password?"

"Boo. That's fucking terrible."

"What, that one's funny!"

"1Forrest1? That's your definition of funny?"

"I'm not at my best right now."

"Since you're traumatized, I'll give you one more chance."

"No pressure though."

"None whatsoever. Just so you know though, if you can't tell a good joke I'll hold that against you and consider it a character defect for the rest of your life."

Avery wracked her brain, thinking over all the jokes she knew to think of one that would make him laugh. It was probably impossible, however, so she decided to think of the cheesiest.

"Where does Frost keep his cash?" Tony stayed silent. Avery took that as her cue to continue. "The snow bank."

Nothing. Not even a smirk.

"Oh come on, that's good and you know it."

"What did the rude prism say to the light beam that smacked into him?"

Avery thought for a moment before she shrugged. "I don't know, what?"

"Get bent."

It wasn't funny, but Avery found herself smirking regardless. She pressed her face against the cool metal railing and smiled, peering over at him to see if maybe he was the sort to laugh at his own jokes. He wasn't laughing. He didn't even smile. He stared down at his hands and shook his head before he finally turned to look at her full on.

"You were with him when it happened?"

"I was."

"So why didn't you stop it?"

Avery felt the guilt surge back, worse than before, all-encompassing and unavoidable. She had been in the room with Coulson and she hadn't been able to do anything but sit there like a coward until it was too late to help him. They took Coulson away but the blood was still there. She made the mistake of looking at it for a moment too long and felt the bile rise up in her throat once again. She rubbed her hand along her thigh and pointedly avoided answering Tony until the last possible moment.

"I was scared. I know that isn't really an excuse, but I froze. I tried to help Bruce and I couldn't. I guess it was the same with Coulson."

"Sucky answer," Tony said simply.

"Sucky situation." Avery didn't know what to say to him. She couldn't tell him she was sorry because it wouldn't mean anything coming from her. She knew that if it had been anyone else, Coulson might still be here. "The suckiest."

"Loki certainly knew what he was doing." Tony squeezed the bar until his knuckles turned white. "He was playing us from the very beginning and we fell right into his trap."

"I'm sorry I didn't do more."

"His trap was sprung the moment we picked him up in Stuttgart."

"He's clever, I will give him that."

"We're supposed to be cleverer," Tony seethed, anger at what happened with Loki and Coulson finally showing through. She left him to his anger for a moment, letting them fall into silence. It seemed even worse than before now that Tony was talking to her. She didn't think all the bad jokes in the world could fix it, not that the death of someone she assumed was his friend could be fixed with a little awkward humor. She shifted in her spot and looked down at the ground, at the spot Thor had fallen through. That was a mistake, as it made her immediately remember the look on his face when he dropped out of the sky.

"I shot him," She said quickly, thinking of that instead of Thor. Neither were very good thoughts, and she didn't care for either Asgardian, but there was something inherently decent in Thor that Loki lacked. It made the fact that she shot someone not seem so bad in comparison.

"What?"

"I shot Loki," Avery said, although it didn't really seem like it mattered now that he was gone. She had barely managed to get his shoulder and, if she was being perfectly honest, it was nothing more than a flesh wound. "It wasn't much, but it looked like it stung like a son of bitch."

"It would probably sting a little more if I blew his greasy little head off."

She supposed it would.

"Tony, I've bee…" Steve trailed off, coming to a halt, half in, half out, when he saw Avery and Tony sitting on the floor in the detention room. "Oh, Avery, I didn't expect…"

Tony let out an audible noise of something somewhere between disgust, which seemed out of place, and annoyance. He stood up and turned around, folding his arms over his chest as Steve stepped into the room enough for the door to slide shut behind him. He didn't say anything. Neither did Tony. Avery felt like she probably shouldn't be there, but she couldn't move without making it more awkward. She pressed herself up against the railing a little further and waited for either of them to speak. She felt like she was watching a prize fight as she looked back and forth between them, like they were going to pick up where they left off in the lab. Only this time, they would actually hit each other.

She immediately stood up and tried to subtly move between them. It was painfully obvious, causing them both to look at her with raised eyebrows.

"They called it on Coulson," Steve said, telling them what they already knew.

"Of course they did. He had a giant hole in his chest," Tony didn't seem to notice the way Steve's eye twitched at the flippant response. "He was stupid."

"For what? For believing?"

"For taking Loki on," Tony snapped. Avery could hear the annoyance in his voice. Steve could too, but he interpreted it differently. A look of understanding, or what might have been pity, took over his face, instantly making Tony tense up.

"Sometimes there isn't a choice."

Avery looked away. They were both conveniently ignoring the fact that Coulson hadn't been alone. She was there and she had a very clear shot. She rubbed her hand on her thigh compulsively, feeling like it was on fire.

"And that worked out so well for him." Tony was seething. She wondered how close him and Coulson had were, had been.

She felt even more shame boil up inside her.

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"

"We are not soldiers!" Tony turned away from Steve and leaned against the railing, looking as if he was using it to support himself. Avery didn't know what to do with herself. Steve kept glancing between her and Tony, a look of concern on his face every time he made eye contact with her swollen nose, favored left side, and stained hands. "I'm sure as hell not marching to Fury's fife."

"Neither am I," Steve said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Fury has the same blood on his hands as Loki. We have to put what happened aside for now and think. Loki only needs a power source. If we can start to put tog..."

"He made it personal."

"Yea, but that isn't the point."

"Yes it is. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why? What's the point in that?"

"To tear us apart," Steve answered, gesturing over to the blood stain once again.

"No listen. He knew he had to take us out individually to win. All that shit with Avery and now with Coulson. He wants to beat us, tear us down until we can't beat him, and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right, I caught his act in Stuttgart."

"That was just a warm up. He's a diva. He wants the lights, the stage, all eyes on him. He wants his name..." Tony trailed off, a look of understanding on his face. "That son of bitch." Tony ran out of the detention room suddenly, leaving Steve and Avery staring after him without an explanation. They were silent for a moment before Tony came running back in and pointed between the two of them. "Go suit up. And get Natashalie, we're going to need her. Be ready to leave in thirty. Oh and Avery?"

"Yea?"

"Get your shit together. You're going to help us and if you get another shot, you're not going to miss this time."

* * *

**Apparently parents have no concept for ff deadlines when they plan family outings. Lol, oh well. Sorry for the lame ending, but if I didn't stop it there, this thing would have lasted forever and a day. Next chapter is the last in Avengers before I start moving into my own plot stuff, so I'm super pumped for that! I'm hoping you guys are picking up on how much Avery is going to need to grow in order for her to be effective and next chapter is kind of trial by fire right when she's feeling her worst about what she can and can't do. Peter will be back next chapter along with Gwen Stacy. **

**And in case it wasn't clear, nobody actually blames Avery for what happened. Tensions are high and Tony was vneting his anger at somebody. They will definitely deal with that later. **

**Also, Avery gets a new power! Yay! **

**As always, thank you all so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites. They keep me motivated on a part of the story that just feels like I'm summarizing the movie. See you guys next week! **


	16. Chapter 16

_-Chapter Sixteen-_

* * *

Avery wished she knew New York better. She also wished she could take a shower and that there weren't aliens literally pouring out of a hole in the sky, but she would settle for just knowing where the hell she was going, for the time being. She skidded to a halt and looked around, counting the number of blocks she had run. She was supposed to be helping somehow, but that intention had gotten lost the moment she came face to face with her first Chitauri. She had thought she had reached a personal low when she punched Coulson in the face, but apparently she was determined to remind herself of all the ways she was terrible at handling crisis situations.

And as if things weren't bad enough, the heel on her boot was broken.

"Get it together, Avery," She said under her breath, repeating the words for what felt like the thousandth time. She took a deep shuddering breath and pressed herself against an upturned taxi cab as much as she could, ignoring the smell of gasoline on the bottom of her boots. There were very few things Avery would consider more ridiculous than the idea that aliens were in New York City. Maybe if she's had a bit more time to process it, she wouldn't think it was so out of the realm of possibilities. Thor was probably an alien, the same applied to Loki as well, she supposed, but they still looked decidedly human.

The almost constant barrage of screams and glass breaking didn't help to calm her nerves.

But then again, the gun in waistband of her pants wasn't helping either.

Something exploded to her left and she ducked down, throwing her hands above her head. She knew, without a doubt, that it was a horrible idea for her to be on her own. Someone else would be more suited for this. Natasha, probably, or Clint, or Tony, or basically anyone else. The anyone else, however, were currently fighting aliens, leaving her in her current position of trying to help people trapped inside the closest buildings all on her lonesome.

"_What do you see, Avery?"_ Steve pressed her, practically shouting at her through the earpiece Natasha had stuffed unceremoniously in her hand just before they landed. It had all been a blur once they'd taken Coulson's body away and Tony had run out of the holding cell, leaving her and Steve staring at each other awkwardly. He hadn't known what to say to her and she hadn't known what to say to him. The shame she felt seemed worse with him than with Tony, rendering her unable to say anything but a quiet 'sorry' before she sped out of the room to wash the blood off her hands. "_Avery?"_

"Sorry. They're trapping people inside one of the exchanges," She said, peering up at the building currently crawling with Chitauri in the reflection of the glass on the building opposite. The heat radiating off the taxi undercarriage stung her back, but the thought of moving away from the relative safety it provided kept her firmly pressed against it.

"_Which one?" _

"The one with all the money," Avery snapped, flattening herself against the sidewalk just in time to miss a wayward piece of flying concrete. It slammed into one of the glass windows on her side of the street, shattering it into a million pieces. She covered her face and pressed herself against the dirty sidewalk and waited for the glass to stop, wincing at each little pinch, prick, and cut.

"_Technically, those buildings don't have any…"_

"_Not the time, Stark,"_ Steve cut across Tony before he could get off track. _"Avery, where are they concentrating?"_

Avery groaned at the idea of having to leave her little taxicab sanctuary, but prepared herself for that particular inevitability. She sucked in a large amount of air, feeling the panic setting in to the point she thought her muscles might seize up. _"Avery?"_

"Sorry. Give me a minute."

"_She's freaking out_," Tony said in the least helpful way imaginable.

"_How is that going to calm her down?" _

"_It's just an observation. No need to get testy." _

"I'm fine," Avery said, rolling over so she could crawl over to the end of the cab on her hands and knees. Once she reached the end she wrapped her hand around the crumpled tailpipe and leaned out, ignoring the constant stream of conversation in her earpiece so she could pay attention to just Steve's voice. He seemed so much calmer than she imagined possible in such a stressful situation, even for someone who, like most people on planet earth she assumed, had never seen an alien before. She eyed the building for a moment, noticing a distinct lack of people, before she sighed and reached down to pull out her gun. "It looks like they're trapping people from getting out. A building this big should have at least a few people."

"_How many civilians?" _

"I don't know," Avery said, sitting back on her heels. "I think I need to go inside."

The idea made her panic. She didn't know how to clear a building. She didn't know how to keep other people safe. Her mind flashed back to Coulson and how quickly that situation had gone badly. Avery thought she had pushed that out of her mind fairly well, but the pressure of the gun in her hand and the warmth beating down from the sun and the massive amounts of people around her brought the moment surging back in full force. Her fingers shook, threatening to drop the gun entirely.

"_Keep your back against a wall as much as you can,"_ Steve offered, sounding a little out of breath.

"_Does anybody else see the problem with sending Avery into a building by herself?"_ Clint asked, even more unhelpfully than Tony.

"Maybe keep that to yourself, yeah?"

Something exploded on the other end of the earpiece, sending a high pitched screech through the line. _"These ugly bastards mean business." _

Avery rolled her shoulders and rotated towards the building. She couldn't help but glance down the street, taking note of the very clear path she had away from all the chaos. It would be rather easy for her to run away, to disappear and go find herself a nice little hut in Siberia to live in for the rest of her life. It would take them weeks, longer maybe, to actually start looking for her in the aftermath. She could disappear and forget everything happened. She felt her hips turn away from the building for moment and almost did it. And she thought she would have if it weren't for the sudden explosion halfway up the building that sent glass and rubble raining down on the street. There were probably people in there and, as laughable as it was, she was going to have to help them.

Avery pressed herself against the back end of the cab and watched the double glass doors. She gave herself five more seconds before she stood up and covered her head with her hands, knowing that she wasn't lucky enough to make it to the doors without some sort of wayward piece of building pinging her in the face. She threw open the door and ducked inside, eyes scanning the lobby quickly, gaze bouncing from hiding place to hiding place. It was a bit odd to see a place so clean, considering how much chaos was outside and on the upper floors. "The lobby is clear."

"_Take the stairs. You don't want to get trapped in an elevator, just in case the power gets cut." _

Avery supposed that was smart. It would be truly sad if the first time she attempted to do anything semi-decent in her life she didn't even make it past step one. Glancing once more around the room, she jogged over to the staircase tucked behind the elevators and stepped inside as quietly as possible. She was truly thankful for the fact that the power was still working. The Chitauri already looked zombie-like enough without the added horror of running into one in a dark stairwell.

Shaking off that particular scenario, she took the stairs two at a time until she came to the first floor. The sign was hanging off its hinge, but that could have happened at any point. At least, that's what she told herself. With shaking hands she held the gun in front of her and flicked the safety off. She imagined a hundred Chitauri on the other side, but that was probably overly dramatic. Still, she mentally went through the number of bullets in her gun. Taking one more steadying breath, she opened the door and stepped in, gun first, body second. The tightness that had appeared in her chest dissipated as soon as she saw the empty room except for three very scared looking men staring at her from behind a wall of chairs.

"Who're you?"

"Avery," She paused, switching the safety back on her gun. She tucked it back into her pants and stepped further into the room. "Where's everybody else?"

"I'm sorry, but are you supposed to be rescuing us?" Avery pursed her lips at him. She normally would say something nasty in return, but she thought that, if their roles were reversed, she would be disappointed as well at seeing just her after being attacked by an alien army. Of course, he looked like the sort of person she did her absolute best to avoid at all costs. Everything about him, even his tone of voice, made her think he was the type that admitted to massaging his mother's feet or collecting belly button lint in a jar under his bed. "You look like you're in high school."

"Do you want help getting out of the building or not?"

"Is that the only gun you've got?"

"Yes. Where is everybody else?"

"There weren't a lot of people in today," The second man said, glancing over at the other two. "Someone pulled the fire alarm pretty early on, so most people who were here got out before they showed up. Those," He paused, a look of fear taking over his face. "Things came in through the windows up on the tenth floor. Nobody's made it out for a while."

"I thought about locking them in."

"I did too," The third man added, causing Avery to roll her eyes.

"Well, aren't you three just the pinnacle of human decency."

Just in case she didn't make her sudden disdain for them clear, she shot them all a glare for good measure and turned around to walk back to the stairwell without saying anything else. She didn't have the time to express to them all that was wrong with their statement so she would just as soon not think about the implications of what would have happened if they had been left in the building on their own. She closed the door and stared at the stairs in front of her, dreading the idea of climbing up ten flights of stairs.

"_Those guys are the worst_. _I say you leave them_," Tony said in her ear, vocalizing her exact thoughts.

"_It's probably just her powers_."

"_You know, that hadn't even occurred to me."_

"_Shut up, Stark."_

Avery wheezed and used the railing to support herself so she wouldn't go toppling backwards down the stairs. She checked each floor as she went, feeling anticipation building with each empty one. "_Avery, are you okay?"_

"Why, just because I sound like I'm going to have a heart attack?" Avery groaned and leaned over the railing, feeling a dry heave coming on. "My lungs are trying to escape through my esophagus."

"_How many flights of…shit!"_

"Tony?"

"_Momentary crisis averted. Anyway, how many flights of stairs?"_

"Like ten."

"_Wimp." _

"They're steep and I'm emotionally compromised."

"_If by emotionally compromised you mean out of shape, then I'll buy it."_

Avery had to use the wall to keep from toppling over. She leaned her back against it and dropped her hands to her knees, sucking in air like and asthmatic. She took in a few more greedy breaths and cleared her throat. "I'm on the tenth, oh my god I'm really out of breath." Avery waved her hands in front of her face, trying, and failing, to fan away some of the heat. "I'm on the tenth floor."

"_Be careful." _

Through her own, admittedly, embarrassingly heavy breathing she could hear the sound of people behind the door, the sound of footfalls pacing back and forth.

She shook her shoulders out and entered the floor the same way she with the first nine, gun first, body second.

There were at least thirty people all huddled together in the middle of the room, flanked on all sides by four Chitauri soldiers. They each had guns that glowed from the inside pointed at the panicked people. She wondered why they hadn't started shooting them already. Logic didn't apply to the situation, but it didn't seem reasonable to keep them alive. Keeping this thought in mind, she ducked down behind the nearest desk and backed up against the underside.

She needed a game plan.

She didn't know how to go about coming up with one.

It probably wouldn't work to just start shooting, and she certainly didn't trust herself to have good enough aim to not accidentally catch one of the people instead. Of course, she could always just hop out and try to scare the Chitauri to death instead.

To give herself some time to think, she dropped the magazine out of her gun to double check the bullets she had. She ran her fingers over the rounded edges of each bullet, running over each scenario. Most ended up with her dead, some in a fiery explosion, and a choice few, the ones she liked the most, ended with her sticking her head out and discovering that she had made it all up.

Entertaining the idea of picking them off one by one, she moved forward and slid out from under the desk sideways. She was forced to scooch along like a worm. It gave her ample time to rule out her idea of doing her best impersonation of a video game character, based simple on her own lack of skills. She waited until she was a little closer before she made up her mind.

Not that she thought being closer would make things clearer.

Avery moved from desk to desk as silent as possible until she was close enough to make eye contact with one of the people in the middle of the room. His eyes widened and he looked like he wanted to say something, but she shook her head vigorously, stopping him instantly. He glanced at the nearest Chitauri soldier and then back at her, subtlety obviously forgotten in favor of the more natural response of panic.

She felt an instant kinship with him based on that simple fact alone.

His eyes trailed down to the gun in her hand, like she expected, and he instantly bent down, pulling the well-dressed woman next to him down with him. Avery shook her head again but the man ignored her, continuing to get the attention of those around him until no less than ten people were bending down and covering their heads with her bags and hands.

Avery rolled her eyes.

So much for the element of surprise.

The Chitauri turned around to look for the source of the disruption and spoke to each other in a language that sounded more akin to someone hacking up a sharp pile of snot rather than actual words.

What they said didn't matter because they were all looking right at her.

"Crap." She threw herself sideways just in time to avoid a blast from one of the guns, narrowly avoiding getting hit by inches. It left a large burn on the side of the desk where she had just been. The room erupted into chaos as the people, who apparently took her presence as an indicator that it was time to panic, started throwing themselves out of the way as the Chitauri opened fire. Avery scrambled on her hands and knees to the next desk. "This is going very badly."

She stuck her head out and aimed her gun, mindful of the fact that it was now much harder than it was about thirty seconds earlier.

She caught the first one off guard as she shot it in the chest. It fell backwards and slammed into the office floor with a thud that drew the attention of the others over to him, it, her, she really didn't know. She pointed the gun at the next one and closed one eye, knowing full well that the first one was nothing more than pure luck. She couldn't risk hitting someone else, so she took a deep steadying breath and aimed. She managed to hit it in the stomach before she turned to do the same to third. It slumped to the ground, leaving only the fourth one to deal with.

It would have been easy, if the man, whom she thought she had a connection with based on a mutual understanding of the normal human response to these situations, hadn't picked up one of the discarded guns and stepped up in front of Avery like he had any idea whatsoever of what he was doing. Avery tried to shove him out of the way to get a clear shot in the milliseconds they had before things went from bad to immeasurably worse. He officially removed any and all traces of connection she felt towards him when he tried to use the gun on the last Chitauri. The force sent him flying backwards into Avery for just a moment before they crashed through the large window and down towards the street below.

He screamed louder than her as the plummeted towards the ground. Avery wrapped her arms around his back and closed her eyes, waiting for the crunch.

Something wrapped around her waist and jerked their momentum to a stop in two different directions at a nauseating speed. They flew through the air for a moment before they landed with a thud and Avery finally decided it was safe enough to open her eyes.

"Are you guys alright?" Avery pushed the idiotic man off her and he promptly vomited on the gravel on top of the building. "Avery, funny seeing you here."

She stared blankly at the honeycombed eyes of his mask, wracking her brain for how or why the spandexed man would know her, before she realized she was currently face to face, or face to mask, with Peter Parker. Avery relaxed and shook out her hands, noticing the absence of the gun instantly. "Hey, Pe…" He threw a hand over her mouth to stop her from saying his name. He turned his head over to the other man on the roof significantly. She nodded and shoved his hand off. "Peach cobbler."

"Apple pie," Peter responded, playing along in a singsong voice. "So, are you guys okay?"

"I think we're fine, excluding the fact that this dingus over here forgot about Newton's Third Law," Avery tried not to be so upset with him, considering he had technically helped her even if it resulted in the worst possible outcome. She felt bad and went over to pat him on the back, bending down to see if he was alright. "You okay, pal?"

He nodded, standing up for a moment, before he bent back over and hurled again.

"That's nasty," Peter commented, folding his arms over his chest.

"I think I'm done," The man said. He stood up and looked over at the other two. He looked distinctly green and the smell of vomit wafted off him in waves. Avery put her hand over her nose and pat him on the shoulder, wincing at the sight of him.

"Sorry about the dingus comment." He waved his hand and took a deep breath.

"It s'right."

"There's a stairwell over there that leads to a back alley that leads to one of the safe zones," Peter said pointing to a door over his shoulder.

"Oh man, you're Spider-man." The man's eyes went wide as he finally seemed to realize who he was standing, and vomiting, in front of. The green color faded away in favor for a chalky white and he immediately started stuttering. "I'm so sorry about that."

"Better out than in," Peter said, clapping the man on the shoulder.

"I'm a huge fan." The man looked completely star struck. Avery couldn't help but smile, wondering how he, a man who was thoroughly middle-aged, would react if he knew that Peter was only seventeen. "Seriously, I don't buy a word of that crap in the Daily Bugle."

"What happened?" Peter asked, clapping the man on the back again in a way that caused him to smile brightly.

"Those," He struggled for words, trying to think of a way to describe them that would fit. "Monsters came through the windows and started shooting at people. The lower floors managed to get out in time, but they followed us from the top floors and trapped us on the 10th. They would've killed us if she hadn't shown up." The man looked over at Avery, causing her to blush at the look on his face.

"Is there anybody else still in the building?" Peter asked, jogging over to the side of the building to peer down. Avery, hesitant to put herself close to anything height related, stayed firmly planted in her spot, ignoring the smell of vomit and how much her legs shook and burned.

"I don't know. I think maybe some people didn't make it out of the top floors, but I tried to get out as fast as I could," The man said, sounding truly disturbed by the idea that there were still people in the building. "I should have tried to help more."

"You've already done more than enough," Peter said, running back over to them. "You see one of them coming for you, you run and hide." The man nodded and turned towards the door Peter had pointed out to him. He gave Avery one last look, thanking her silently with his eyes, and stumbled away.

Avery felt bad for him. She had had some semblance of adjustment time since discovering that aliens were real. Granted it was about ten minutes and she hadn't actually believed them, but the idea was already there and she had come to terms with it, so to speak. She thought about when it was all over and when she would be able to actually freak out, properly and without worrying about it affecting other people and it made her feel better. She watched the man until he disappeared down the stairwell, wondering if he was going to listen to what Peter said, or pull the same sort of stunt that he had inside the building.

"So what's really happening?" Peter asked, sidling up beside Avery. She turned to look at him and let out a deep breath that she didn't realize she had been holding.

"Hell if I know."

"You gonna puke if we take the short way back into the building?"

"Meaning?"

Peter shrugged and lifted his arm, pressing his fingers into a small button on his palm that caused something to shoot out of the canister attached to his wrist. It was gross. Avery pursed her lips and turned away, looking back at the building.

"What?"

"You realize that's creepy, right?"

"Friendly neighborhood _Spider_-man," Peter said, and she could practically see the smirk. "So, no powers today?"

Avery looked down at her feet awkwardly, remembering back to the first, and only, time she had met Peter. It wasn't exactly a solid first impression, which was on her, but she was surprised he was being so friendly to her. She supposed the impending start of a possible alien apocalypse brought out the forgiveness in people. "I still feel bad about that."

"_We've got a problem guys,"_ Tony said suddenly, cursing under his breath over the sound of the battle raging on around them. Avery had actually forgotten about them.

"_Just one?"_ Natasha snarked, and Avery could just image the derisive look on her face. She pressed her earpiece into her ear, wincing as someone shouted on the other end, and waited for some instruction about what she was supposed to do next.

"_They're pilling up on Oscorp,"_ Tony said, ignoring Natasha's comment completely. _"Civilians are trapped on the upper floors." _

"_Where's Thor?" _

"_Busy." _

"_Cap?" _

"_I'm pinned down. Barton is the closest, but it looks like he's got own problems," _Steve said, sounding out of breath and stressed. Avery pursed her lips and sighed, feeling a foreign bubble of helpfulness growing in her chest. It was awful and more akin to gas than anything remotely pleasant, but it was there, niggling at her in the most annoying way imaginable. She supposed it might have come from seeing real people who needed help. Still, she didn't understand. Running away had felt like she such the right thing to do. She glanced down the street, weighing her options in her mind before she sighed.

"_Well somebody has to do it." _

"I can do it," Avery volunteered, surprising herself and basically everyone else. She didn't know where the desire, if desire was even the word, came from. She regretted putting her name into the mix instantly and wished she could take it all back. "I mean, if the…"

"_Do you know where it is?"_ Tony asked, cutting her off before she could spiral into her own excuse-tornado.

Avery turned to look at Peter, jumping when she noticed that he had slid up next to her at some point during her short conversation. She reached her hand up to cover her earpiece and leaned towards him, wincing as another loud explosion sounded on the other end. "Do you know where Oscorp is?"

"Who are you talking to?"

Avery couldn't see his expressions, but judging by the way he reached out and grabbed her earpiece from her, he definitely knew enough about where Oscorp was to panic.

"How many are on the building?" Peter asked, pulling the side of his mask up so that he could press the earpiece into his now exposed ear. Avery decided to give him the benefit of the doubt rather than glaring, which would have been her normal response. She stepped up closer to him and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him down so they were eye level with each other and leaned in to press her ear against his so she could hear what the others were saying.

"_Who are you?" _

"Spider-man."

"_That snot nosed kid me and Avery questioned?" _

"The one and the same." Avery earned a sour look from the lower half of Peter's exposed face. "Sorry. Anyway, as much as this will probably end up being a disaster like everything else involving me, we can go to Oscorp. After we finish this building of course."

"_For someone who proclaims to dislikes people so much, you certainly make friends easily_."

"I've never said I dislike people."

"_Must just be your demeanor then." _

"How many are on the building?" Peter asked again, more force behind his voice. Avery glanced up at him, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. She opened her mouth to ask him about it, but was met with a hand in her face and tensed shoulders.

"_At least twenty. Maybe more." _

"Let's go." Peter shoved the earpiece back into her hands without giving Tony a response. Avery grabbed it before it fell to the ground and placed it in her ear, eyeing Peter with even more confusion. Peter jogged over to the edge of the building and looked up and down the chaotic street before he ran back over to her, every muscle in his body visibly tight. "Seriously, either we go now, or I'm leaving you."

"Peter, wait. We have to make sure there's no Chitauri in left in this building."

"Hang on." He jumped off the side of the building. Avery sighed.

"What's special about Oscorp?"

"_Biological and chemical research_," Tony said, sounding out of breath.

"Like weapons?"

"_I'm sure they've got some. But they're also in the genetic engineering game_."

"Avery, let's go."

Peter hoped up on the edge of the building. He had some kind of black gunk on his chest and mask. He didn't even wait half a second from when he spoke to when he wrapped his left arm around her and vaulted them off the side of the building. The earpiece went flying in the opposite direction and Avery watched it until the momentum shifted and she somehow ended up upside down. She clung to Peter like a lemur and tried to keep herself from vomiting at the smell of the black substance, which she distinctly thought might be Chitauri blood, on his chest. They moved up and down, swinging close enough to nearest building, she saw herself reflected in the glass.

She looked an absolute mess.

Oscorp certainly cut an impressive figure in the skyline. It jutted out of group of squat red brick buildings, making it look twice as big and new. Incidentally, however, she thought its size was precisely the reason it was currently crawling with Chitauri. Smoke billowed out from the lower floors, snaking up the side like a chimney and obscuring the top floors. Peter moved faster, forcing Avery to grip him tighter as they landed on the roof of the building right next to Oscorp as a blistering speed. They skidded to a halt. Peter unwrapped his arm and immediately turned his attention towards the large tower looming directly to their left.

"It looks like they're entering through there." Peter pointed to a hole in the north side of the building. Avery followed his hand and nodded, assessing the number of Chitauri. It was definitely more than twenty. Her hands rubbed her thighs nervously, glancing over at Peter's profile to see if he had the same reservations that she did. She reached up to press her earpiece, to tell the others that this was too much for two people to handle, before she remembered it was gone.

"I don't have my gun anymore," She pointed out.

"We need to get to the genetics lab," Peter said, not really paying attention to what she was saying.

"There's like a hundred floors in this building. We should probably start there," Avery pointed to the gaping hole, grimacing when she saw two more Chitauri slip inside. Peter noticed too and took three steps towards the edge, fists clenching. "Do you know how to clear a building?" Peter shook his head and Avery sighed, feeling a slightly leaden feeling settle in her stomach. "I guess we're winging it, then. A way to communicate with the others might be helpful, though."

"You have your earpiece."

"_Had_. I lost it when you decided to reenact Tarzan without telling me."

"We can handle it."

It wasn't going to end well. She knew that with certainty. Peter shook out his arms and wrapped them around her without permission before he vaulted them off the top of the building once again, pulling them up towards the hole in the side of the skyscraper. Avery groaned and pressed her face into her chest while wrapping her arms and legs around him, clinging to him in the most embarrassing way possible. There was also the added creepiness that Peter was only seventeen. She made a mental note to apologize for practically molesting him later when they weren't flying through the air while dodging aliens right and left.

Peter adjusted their course, sending them careening downward for a moment before he righted them and continued upwards. They were almost to the hole when something sliced through the web in Peter's left hand just as they were passing by the large wall of windows. They slammed sideways into the glass violently, shattering it on impact. Peter tried to switch their positions but only managed to turn them so they were both on their sides before they hit the tile floor and skidded to a painful stop, tangled up in a mess of limbs, glass, and snapped web.

"Ow." Peter rolled off her, sticking his elbow in her back in the process, and sat up. He peeled the web off him and threw it aside. Brushing off glass, he turned to look at Avery. "You okay?"

Avery stared at the ceiling, allowing herself one moment of being truly dazed, before she sat up. She felt something sting in her right thigh, like a tight pinching on the inner side of her leg just above her knee. It wasn't a large piece of glass, by any means, but it still hurt something awful and she didn't know if she should pull it out and pray she didn't bleed out, or if she should try and waddle to the nearest first aid station to get something to stop the bleeding and hope for the best. She tested the edge of the glass and hissed when the pain flared up and a little bubble of blood spilled out over her pants. "What do I do?"

"What?" Peter looked down at her leg and, once again, she thought that she could the surprise even on his mask. "Oh my god. Um, is that near your femoral artery?"

"I don't know."

"If it was, there'd be more blood," Peter said, more to himself than her. "I guess pull it out."

"That seems like the exact opposite of what I should do."

"Do you want to run around with a giant shard of glass in your knee?"

"Technically, it's my thigh, and if I knew what to do I wouldn't be asking you, would I?" Avery snapped, realizing half a moment too late that her tone was a little uncalled for. "Sorry, Peter."

He eyed her for a moment before he, without warning, reached down and grabbed the shard and yanked.

Avery let out an involuntary yelp and wrapped both her hands around her thigh, waiting for the inevitable. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling slightly light headed. She clenched her eyes closed and waited. "What are you doing?"

"Am I turning pale?"

"No? Get up," He said, shaking her shoulder. She cracked open one eye and looked at her leg. She squeezed both her hands for half a moment before she carefully removed one, testing to see if some horror movie worthy spurt of blood was going to shoot out, and then the other. "See, it's barely even a trickle."

"Help me up." He yanked her into a standing position.

"We're 17 floors below the genetics lab."

"How do you know that?" Avery asked, not looking at him as she brushed all the glass and webbing off her. "Actually, how do you know anything about Oscorp? You're in high school."

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Saying all this stuff you know about me. It's called a _secret_ identity for a reason."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize that the beakers were going to start gossiping after we left," She paused, limping along behind him through the labyrinth of lab equipment. He stopped in front of her, shoulders tensing.

"Shhh," Peter hissed, turning around. He looked up at the ceiling in confusion, holding his hand out to shush her. She closed her mouth and followed his gaze, listening to the sounds of the building. At first, she only heard the sound of the air conditioner. After a moment, however, she thought she heard the sound of something tapping just above their heads. It would remind her of mice, if mice weighed more and wore heavy boots. It increased after a moment and Avery narrowed her eyes, having a sneaking suspicion as to what that sound might be.

"That can't be good. Did we land on the floor just below the giant hole the Chitauri were using to get inside?"

The ceiling groaned and they both stepped back, watching as dust particles rained over them. "Back to the window," Peter said, grabbing her arm as they both ran back through the desks towards the broken window.

The ceiling crashed down right where they had been standing, sending even more dust and debris down around them. Avery ran faster, holding her arms above her head as more ceiling tumbled down, just behind their backs. She yanked Peter forward, pushing him out of the way of a large chunk of drywall. They were about ten feet from the window when six Chitauri dropped down from the hole. One landed practically on top of Peter and grabbed him around the shoulder, throwing him him to the ground, gun pointed at his face. Another, catching Avery off guard, wrapped its hand around her hair and yanked her backwards. She landed on top of Peter's legs, head smacking into the hard linoleum floor with a crack.

A boot pressed down on her chest, digging into her sternum painfully.

The Chitauri with its hand in her hair bent over her, shoving the tip of its gun into her cheek hard enough to draw blood. The power cell in the middle glowed blue. Her eyes widened and she tried to scramble back, neck straining in an attempt to pull her hair out of its hand. It ripped and her hands went up to her head involuntarily. Peter's knee dug into her back, but she ignored him, too preoccupied with getting free.

More Chitauri poured through the ceiling, increasing their numbers to ten or more. She dug her nails into the calf muscle of the Chitauri holding her down, feeling panic building up in her chest.

From her spot on the floor she could see a desk from the floor above teetering on the edge, dangerously close to falling directly on top of her and Peter. She watched it, nails still digging, hand still clawing at her hair. When it fell, she closed her eyes and threw up her hands, splaying her fingers out.

"What the hell is that?"

"What?" Avery opened her eyes.

"Is that yours?"

Her mouth dropped in response, unsure of what to say.

A solid gold wall covered the expanse of the hole, shimmering, holding the desk in place. It flickered, glowing brighter before it exploded downward, knocking the Chitauri off them. The one holding Avery down flew backwards into the glass window and fell down the thirty-something stories to the street below, taking a chunk of her hair with it. She screamed, dropping her hands from their defensive position above her head and face. As soon as she did, the wall disappeared entirely and the desk fell.

"Oh no."

It smacked her in the face, knocking her out cold.

* * *

**I'm alive! Hi everybody! I know it seems like I forgot about this story entirely, but surprise! **

**So, without going into the plethora of reasons why this took me so long to write, I'll just let you know that I have struggled with the Battle of New York endlessly. I have literally never encountered something so hard and I'm not entirely sure why, so rather than toiling over it for another six months, which is what would have happened if I didn't just decide to end it on that cliffhanger, I am going to move ahead to the aftermath. I'm still not happy with this, but for the sake of my sanity and not just giving up on this entirely, I decided to cut my loses and move on before I just got too frustrated and started to hate it. **

**But don't worry, everything will be explained, including what happened with that bizarre gold wall at the end, as well as what happened in Oscorp. I think it will be better in the long run for the flow of the story, as well as some character building that needs to happen. Additionally, Avery wasn't really well prepared enough to go into a situation like that and not have something bad happen, so it seems fitting that her luck would run out right when things were the worst for her and Peter. **

**Anywho, I swear (like a million times over) that now that we're _finally _done with the Avengers plot updates will come faster. I have about 20,000 words of scenes and ideas all the way up through Civil War that I think ya'll are really going to like, so I hope I haven't frustrated you too much with the lack of updates and you'll stick around. **

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter and I promise, no more long, unexplained gaps. :)**


	17. Chapter 17

_-Chapter Seventeen-_

* * *

The nips of vodka spoke to her on an almost spiritual level. She pressed swollen face against them, unsure if she wanted to use them as ice or crack them open. Both, if she wasn't too exhausted to moved. She stared at the bottles, counting them individually as she debated with herself. She didn't even like vodka, but that didn't much matter to her at the moment. Avery closed her eyes and clenched her fists together against her thigh, feeling her energy level dipping lower and lower.

She needed to sleep. She also needed a shower and something to eat. The order wasn't important to her. Of course, all of it involved moving, which she couldn't even bring herself to do, so she settled on calming her nerves just enough that other unforeseen disasters of the gold variety wouldn't come out of nowhere and cause her any more problems.

"Time to vacate the mini fridge," Tony said, kicking her foot. She shook her head, folding her arms over her chest in a childish way, considering the vodka once again, more seriously than before. Tony started kicking her feet repeatedly after a moment, causing her to groan and roll her eyes. "Fury's here to see you."

"What?" Avery sat up and promptly smacked her head into the metal shelf in the fridge. She rubbed her forehead and glared at him. "You're lying."

He bent down at her feet and smirked at her position.

The fridge had been a happy accident, really. She'd mostly been looking for something to drink that wasn't alcoholic and hadn't been able to resist sticking her head in once she felt the cool air. It progressed to her laying down with her head inside, ignoring Peter and Gwen as she waited for the rest of them to get back. It served the dual purpose of keeping the throbbing to a minimum and avoiding talking about what happened in Oscorp. Truthfully, after she came to, not three minutes after being conked over the head with a desk, it had been about as scary as the rest of her day. She decided it was more a building effect, the culmination of everything that had happened in the last couple of days that caused her to find refuge in the appliance, than the individual events of Oscorp itself.

"Why do you have so much vodka?" She asked, squeezing her hands tighter until she felt a release in pressure behind her eyes. She'd been going through the same cycle of building and releasing pressure for what felt like hours.

"Because the normal sized bottles don't fit in my suit," Tony paused, tapping her shoe with his hand. "So, one of your two strays said something interesting." Avery sighed and closed her eyes, pressing her face into the cold bottles for a moment longer before she scooted down and sat up. Her head instantly started to pulsate but she ignored it, knowing that the dull ache would stick around for at least a few days. Tony looked worse than she did, even including the large knot on her head, with cuts a scraps all over his face and exposed forearms. She crossed her legs and leaned against one of the bar cabinets, waiting for Tony to elaborate. She had an idea about what he was referring to, but she decided to wait and see, just in case the subject hadn't come up yet. Peter swore he wouldn't tell anyone. Apparently, if her suspicions were correct, that promise had lasted about thirty seconds into meeting Tony Stark, before it promptly flew out the window. She was trying not to be bitter. It wasn't working. "I got you shawarma."

She eyed the takeout with suspicion.

"What's the catch?"

"No catch. I just thought you would've worked up quite an appetite." He held the back out to her, shaking it enticingly. "You know, running, climbing, hiding, shooting, discovering a new power. Same old, same old."

They held eye contact for what felt like an eternity before she took the shawarma. "Where did you guys take Loki?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has a holding facility outside the city."

"Didn't exactly work out last time," Avery mused, opening the takeout container. "They're 0 for 2 in that department."

"That was before he had his ass handed to him. That kind of puts things into perspective."

"Go team."

"Ugh, stop," Tony reached over and took one of the pieces of tomato. "You're way too old for this teen-angst bullshit."

She nodded, accepting his assessment of how she had been acting for the last few days without argument. It would probably be counter-intuitive if she did. Even though, technically, the danger had passed, she still felt tense and high strung, making it hard for her to relax even when she actively tried. She ate a few more bites before she put the container on the floor between her and Tony, looking at him with an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry."

"So?"

"So, what?"

"A golden shield, huh?"

Avery sighed and pulled her legs up to her chest, staring at the bar cabinets in front of her. She toed one of them open with her boot, tapping the door open and closed for a moment as she thought about it again. The others were too busy talking with each other to pay attention to her and Tony, but Avery still felt weird about sharing with him. She didn't know him. He didn't know her. However, there was something about the look on his face that made her think he would understand why it was bothering her, even if he himself had never experienced anything remotely similar. They held eye contact for a moment longer and she made up her mind, scooting slightly closer to him so she was sure they wouldn't be overheard.

"I wouldn't say a shield per say, but it was definitely a shield-like mass. I guess more of a wall, but I could see through it."

"Sounds cool."

"It would have been _way_ cooler if I knew I could do it." She looked back at the cabinets and thought carefully about what she would say next, conscious of keeping the whining to a minimum. "I'm still not entirely convinced I didn't hallucinate it."

"I had to fly a nuc through a wormhole."

"What?" Avery turned to look at him, eyes wide. "Are you okay?"

"Clearly," He gestured to himself. They held eye contact again and Avery was tempted to tell him that she didn't believe him one single bit, but stopped herself. "Anyway, maybe stop complaining about something that's supposed to be good."

"I'm not complaining," Avery protested, earning a disbelieving look. "Okay, I'm complaining, but that's only because it would've been nice if it didn't happen in the middle of an alien invasion. That's all I'm saying."

"Beggars can't be choosers, kid."

Avery rolled her eyes and toed the cabinet door more violently, slamming it loud enough to cause a pause in the other's conversation. She heard footsteps walking over to the bar area, causing her to groan audibly. Tony opened his mouth to keep talking, but Avery waved her hand, shushing him as she waited to see who was coming over. She relaxed when she saw that it was just Steve, and not Natasha or Thor. He poked his head over the bar. He'd cleaned his face at some point, making her instantly feel like a wallowing ball of grime. He looked between her and Tony, thick brows furrowing when he saw the look on her face.

"Natasha said she could look at your forehead," He offered after a moment. She was thankful for an escape route from the conversation and instantly took it, feeling slightly bad that she was so eager. Shooting a guilty look at Tony, she reached up and grabbed the bar, finding it more difficult than it should be to stand up. Her head throbbed a bit at the change in position, making her realize that the mini-fridge probably wasn't the best way to treat a potential concussion. She blinked rapidly and rubbed the tender spot of skin, going through the process of clearing her head and calming down all over again. It was an exhausting loop. "Avery."

"She's experiencing a crisis of self," Tony said, standing next to her with a knowing smirk on his face. "As usual. What does this make now, like four in the last two days?"

"Three, by my count."

"You forgot the plane," Tony reminded her.

"Shit, it is four. That's pathetic."

"Only a smidge."

Avery smiled, turning back to look at Steve. He seemed confused for a moment, looking back and forth between the two of them. "Right, well you're bleeding."

"It's more of an ooze than anything," Tony said, earning a small glare from Steve. "Got it. We'll finish this conversation later, Avery." He clapped her on the shoulder and leaned down. "Peter only told me so you can calm down. It's just between us for now." He took the partially eaten shawarma out of her hand and walked away.

"You should've had that checked out earlier," Steve said, drawing her attention immediately back over to him. Avery touched it again, trailing her finger over the small split in the skin, feeling the small dribble of blood.

"Yea, you're probably right," She paused, scanning the room for a moment. Peter and Gwen were gone, but she wasn't exactly upset about that. It felt a bit mean and overly sensitive to call Peter a snitch, but the word seemed to fit. She wasn't mad, however, even if that seemed like the appropriate emotion, and decided that she would still have to talk to him once everything settled, if even just to tie up some loose ends with Oscorp. She pushed it to back of her mind, for the time being, and allowed herself the privilege of one night before she started stressing out about that all over again. "According to Tony, I was having a crisis of self."

"You did good today, regardless of how you feel right now."

She searched his face, looking for any sign of dishonesty. She wanted to tell him that he wasn't with her, that he didn't see her try and decide if anyone would notice if she ran away, but she bit her tongue and smiled at him instead. "Thanks, Steve."

"I think you'll feel better if you focus on something else." He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the bar, lowering his voice ever so slightly. "I'm going to Brooklyn tomorrow, if you want to go with me."

The invitation caught her off guard. If it had been her offering instead of him, she would have immediately backtracked the moment he didn't respond right away, but he didn't seem to mind waiting for her to answer. Really, there was no reason for her to say no. Steve was nice and she was being absolutely ridiculous.

She didn't recognize herself over the last few days. She didn't know herself to be such a panicked person, someone who perseverated over every little thing and let it get her down to the point that nothing seemed redeemable about the situation in her eyes. Her internalized bitterness, which she had honed over ten very isolated years was wearing on her and she thought, if she continued to express it to every person she encountered, it would start to wear on them as well and she would be left right back where she started with no one. Even if the thought of simply walking away appealed to her more antisocial side, Avery didn't think, in reality, she could go back to doing everything on her own.

She nodded, deciding that if she was going to make friends with them, Steve might be the right and easiest place to start. "Sounds fun."

"Thor wants to talk to you, by the way," Steve mentioned, probably attempting to sound conversational. He failed. Avery narrowed her eyes and leaned sideways to look at the man in question. She had been expecting this. When Thor saw her, he ended his conversation with Clint quickly and made his way over to her and Steve. He looked too big for the space, too lumbering alongside all the modern furniture, and Avery caught herself smirking when he bumped into a side table on accident. He moved faster once he got closer.

"Oh no," Avery said, bending down slightly. She peeked over the bar and ducked even more when she inadvertently made eye-contact with him. "Crap."

"What?" Steve looked over his shoulder, obviously confused as to why she was currently trying, and failing, to hide behind him.

"No, don't move," She whispered, reached across the bar to grab his arm. "He's going to talk to me."

"Probably."

"It was so weird last time," Avery said, accidentally squeezing Steve's arm tighter than she meant to. She immediately pulled her hand back and apologized.

"He's already seen you, Avery."

"This day is exhausting," She said more to herself than Steve, closing her eyes with frustration. She sighed and reminded herself to stop being so difficult. She, therefore, tried to smile at Thor when he approached them, but all she could manage was a slightly constipated looking grimace. "Hi, Thor."

"You mother's name is Fulla," He said without preamble. Avery glanced at Steve, taking note of the fact that, even though he looked uncomfortable at being part of the conversation, he didn't make an excuse to leave, like she would have expected. He did, however, busy himself with pouring a glass of water, shooting them both furtive glances out of the corner of his eye. Avery cleared her throat and tapped the smooth surface of the bar, waiting for Thor to elaborate. "Handmaiden and sister to Frigga, my mother."

Avery snorted. He didn't find it funny. "Oh."

"You did not know."

Avery chewed on her lip. "You're 100% about this?"

"From the moment we met, there was something about your face that was familiar to me." Thor moved closer to her, coming to stand next to Steve, who seemed now more determined than ever to focus on his glass of water. They formed a practical wall of muscle, cutting of any easy escape route she might have, forcing her to actually consider what he was telling her. "My suspicions were confirmed."

Steve took a large sip of water, looking between the two of them with eyebrows raised. "Where are you getting this information from?" He asked.

"Loki."

"And you trust him enough to believe him?"

"He has no reason to lie."

"Fulla." Avery tested the name, accidentally tuning out Thor and Steve as she retreated into her own headspace. La. Fulla. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. It wasn't even remotely clever on her mother's part, if what Thor was saying was true. "Fulla. Fulla Gudrun." She cringed, hating how her rough last name fit with the first. She was so wrapped up in just the name she didn't really register, until that moment, the second part of what Thor said. "Wait, say the last part again."

"Loki recognized the similarities instantly. I do not know why I did not."

"Maybe it has something to do with her powers," Steve mused. Thor turned to look at him as if he had just offered the most revolutionary piece of information he had ever heard.

"No, not that." Avery waved her hand. "Are we cousins?"

"I believe we are."

Avery rubbed her forehead, feeling her headache worsening exponentially. The pressure behind her eyes started to build and she felt the familiar sensation of loss of control so she squeezed her hands into fists and moved them behind her back, hiding them from Steve and Thor. She stepped back, consciously putting space between them just in case, and worked through the information piece by piece. If her mother was Thor's aunt, which seemed a bit ridiculous to her but she would work through that later, then, by extension, that meant that she was from Asgard. An alien concept. An entirely different realm. Not earth. Each thought made her stomach clench up tighter and tighter until she felt like she was going to throw up.

But then again, it would explain the odd things that kept happening to her. It would also explain why her mother was so weird and never seemed to fit in completely.

Above all else, though, it was stupid.

Just stupid enough, however, for Avery to know that it was the truth.

"It was not my intention to upset you."

"You didn't," Avery said quickly, half lying. "I'm just processing. It's a lot, you know." She almost mentioned the little golden thorn in her side, but she didn't, allowing them to fall into an uncomfortable silence that she used to look at Thor more closely than she ever had before.

Clearly, there were more differences between her and Thor than similarities, but she could see that there were features on his face that her mother had. Small eyes under a strong brow, dirty blond hair, tan skin. Individually, they weren't much to think about, but on Thor she suddenly felt like she was looking at an off, more masculine version of her mom.

It comforted and made her sad all at the same time.

"Well, I think it's time for you to get that forehead checked out."

"What?" Avery turned back to Steve, realizing that she had been staring, rather dumbly, at Thor for the last few minutes. "Right, sorry."

"Natasha," Steve called, drawing the attention of the redhead. Avery noticed that the rest of them were watching the trio as well. Natasha, who had been talking quietly with Bruce, with a full table and chairs between them, Avery noted, looked over to them and quirked an arched brow. She understood instantly and turned to say something to Bruce, drawing a weary smile from him as she walked away. It was nice to see that at least Avery wasn't the most exhausted out of all of them. But then again, he did have the excuse of turning into a roided out jolly green giant that she didn't.

"You called?" Steve gestured to Avery's forehead and Natasha smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're so needy, Gudrun."

"I know. I'm working on it," Avery paused, realizing that Thor, Steve, and Natasha were all staring at her. "I'm going to work on it, okay."

"I'll give you a day."

"That's fair."

"You have to leave your wet bar fort though," Natasha said.

Avery glanced over to the large wall of windows, mentally preparing herself. The bar kept her secluded, isolated, and able to process what she needed to all while avoiding the others. At least, she was able to avoid Peter and Gwen, for reasons that she couldn't understand the logic behind, as she waited. The sun was going down, but the cleanup was nowhere near finished. There weren't as many sirens as there had been early on in the day, which Avery supposed was a good thing, but the sheer volume of emergency vehicles moving around the city gave it an eerie red and blue glow.

"Come on," Natasha gestured towards the elevator, a knowing look on her face.

Avery glanced back at Thor and Steve, a slightly apologetic look flashing briefly. She was thankful, however, that she had an out without needing to expressly say she didn't want to talk about it anymore, and she took it and followed Natasha over to the elevator. They both moved sideways and let her pass, neither of them saying anything until she was out of earshot. Steve leaned over and said something to Thor, clapping him on the shoulder and left the bar as well, leaving Thor alone with a slightly confused look on his face.

They rode the elevator down one floor and stepped out. It was just as modern as the upper floor, but homier, more comfortable looking. Apart from the large living room in the middle of the floor, there were ten rooms at even intervals spaced around the room. There was just enough room between them for privacy, but not enough to feel isolated.

"Stark said we could each pick a room."

"Do I get first dibs?"

"I guess." All the doors looked the same, so she assumed there wasn't much difference in the rooms either. Still, she opened each one and looked inside, taking in the expensive and sleek décor with a wrinkled nose. She was absolutely certain there was more money in one room than she had ever had in her entire life. "Just pick one."

"All right, pushy." Avery settled on the one nestled in the corner and made a beeline for it, fully aware of the impatient look she was getting.

"Thor tell you the big news?" Natasha asked, pulling out a tiny pouch from her uniform. It looked like a sewing kit. That made Avery's hands twitch.

"How'd you know?"

"I escorted him to talk to Loki before they put him in lockdown."

"It's probably top five most ridiculous things I've ever heard," Avery said, sitting down on the bed with a thump.

"That doesn't mean it isn't true." Avery hummed in agreement and pulled her legs up underneath her. She could already feel the pull of the softness effecting her. "Pull your hair back." Avery complied, leaning forward so Natasha could look that the cut. "Oh, that's not so bad."

"It still hurts," Avery grumbled. Natasha wiped the area clean, surprising Avery with the gentleness in her hands. She half expected her to jam her finger into the spot. She felt bad for assuming that and instantly felt the need to apologize for such an errant train of thought. There was no point in holding a grudge against Natasha, not when she had so many other things to worry about. "I'm sorry."

"For?" Natasha wiped something cold on her skin that numbed the area.

Avery looked at her for a moment, realizing that Natasha didn't need her to answer. "Nothing. Anyway, where did you learn to do this? You're a Jackie of all trades."

"Clean a cut?" She leaned forward, looking closely at her forehead. "Well, you don't need stitches."

"Have you spoken to Fury?"

She nodded and Avery instantly felt herself tense up. "Calm down. You're not going back."

"What?"

"We're trying to decide the best course of action," Natasha said, pressing a bandage against the cut, making sure her fingers didn't touch Avery's skin directly. "I thought it would be best to put you on the same list as the rest of them." She gestured behind her back to the others in the room and Avery followed the motion of her hand, finding it a bit weird and uncomfortable, but her perhaps in a good way, to be lumped in with them. She started cleaning up the small bit of supplies she used and stayed in her seat when she was done, holding eye contact with Avery that felt more significant than usual. "S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't monitoring you right now."

"Is that a permanent thing?"

"That depends."

Avery rested her arm on her knee. "On?"

"On what you plan on doing with your time."

It was an innocuous statement, but the sense of freedom that came with it made some of the constant tension in Avery's chest loosen. The possibilities, all ranging from taking herself up on her own idea of running off to Siberia, to returning to New Mexico, ran across her mind in rapid succession. Part of her also wanted to stay put, but there was a commitment in that made her nervous. "I don't know."

"You don't have to right now. Stark offered up his tower for us until Thor takes Loki back to Asgard and things calm down a little bit."

"Are you okay?" Avery asked, changing the subject.

"Hmm?"

"Well, with what happened with Bruce and then the battle, I was just wondering," Avery finished, leaning back to lay down on the bed. The soft support felt good on her back and she shuffled around, getting even more comfortable. "I meant to ask before we got to New York."

"I'm sure I'll feel it more tomorrow, but I'm fine."

"Are you sticking around?"

"At least until Loki is gone."

"Do you want to go get lunch?" Avery asked quickly, unsure of what she was hoping to accomplish. She still hadn't forgotten Natasha tricking her. She still made her nervous. Natasha's eyebrows furrowed. Avery immediately tried to take it back. "Never mind."

"No, I think that would be nice."

"Really?" Natasha nodded, smiling slightly. "Okay."

"Okay," Natasha said, tucking the little pouch back into her belt. "You really can relax, you know."

"I am relaxed," Avery argued, causing Natasha to roll her eyes. "I'm in the process."

"You'll have to sort things out with Fury, though."

"Oh, come on. Didn't helping, kind of, in an alien invasion earn me at least one day off from dealing with him?"

"No, sorry." Avery groaned and rolled over, pressing her face into the covers. "But, he's so wrapped up dealing with this to worry about you for a least a couple of days."

"Hypothetically speaking, if I wanted to, could I go back to New Mexico?"

"Probably not," Natasha said, not even attempting to sugarcoat it. "Would you want to, though? You've bitched about S.H.I.E.L.D. for months, but what's the alternative? Waiting tables at cheesy diners for minimum wage?"

"It was definitely safer."

"And a lot more boring."

"Killer recruitment speech Natasha," Avery intoned into the covers. Natasha laughed and Avery felt the bed sag.

"We don't need to recruit you. You already work for us."

"Without pay."

"I'm sure that could be fixed." Avery rolled sideways and eyed the other woman skeptically. "The way I see it Gudrun, you have two options. You can either keep fighting this, keep resisting this team and continue to be a miserable, bitter, 22 year old who hasn't accomplished anything or impact anyone, or you can make the decision to accept that this is what your life is and move on and do something good with the hand you've been dealt."

"Wow."

"What?"

"That's probably the harshest, but also most inspiring thing I've ever heard."

"It's a gift, what can I say." Natasha stood up and moved towards the door, pausing with her hand on the wall. "Get some sleep, Avery. Things will probably be better in the morning. Or at least, it won't be any worse than today."

* * *

**Avery is such a sad sack, lol. She gets out of her rut pretty quickly, though, so don't worry, she won't be like this for long next chapter. Gwen and Peter will be pretty big next chapter and one of my own plotss gets introduced as well, so yay! Also, I hope this wasn't too weird of a way for Avery to find out about herself. There's going to more dealt with later, once Jane gets back, but for now I thought it would be just plain stupid for Thor to be in the dark any longer. He doesn't have much tact, so dropping it on her first thing probably seemed like the best option. Like an Asgardian bandaid, lol. **

**REVIEW!**


	18. Chapter 18

_-Chapter Eighteen-_

* * *

Steve Rogers was an early riser. Avery didn't know this when she agreed to go to Brooklyn with him, but the chipperness in his voice when he knocked on her door and the fact that they were currently standing just outside Stark Tower at 6 in the morning was all the evidence she needed to know that this wasn't completely out of the ordinary for him. She eyed him warily out of the corner of her eye and leaned back against the smooth glass building, mourning the hours of sleep she lost almost as much as she mourned the fact that she had to leave her bed in the first place.

Even without seeing the rest of New York, Avery could tell that the only people awake were involved in the cleanup. Just outside the tower a small team of men and women swept debris up and threw it into industrial sized, portable trashcans, many of which were already full to the brim. She didn't know how they were planning on dealing with the large space caterpillars, but at least they were making a dent in the sheer amount of small damages that littered the city and made it look like a war zone. After a few minutes a large truck passed and the cleaners loaded the dead Chitauri into it and went back to work. Avery wondered how long they had been at it, if they hadn't slept at all and worked through the night. She felt a pang of guilt in her chest, but pushed it down, fully committed to her bitterness until it was a more reasonable hour.

"Tony said the closest subway to Brooklyn was that way," Steve said, pointing to his left. "But, I think we should help out a little bit before we go."

Avery pushed herself off the wall and came to stand next to him, following his gaze over to a pair of cleaners that were busy throwing rubble in the trash. "So do we just grab a broom and start sweeping?" She didn't mean to sound so sarcastic, but it just slipped out. "Sorry. It's just really early. Is this a normal thing for you?"

She almost told him that she was still mad at all them as collective group. Except maybe Bruce, but that wasn only because she decided not to hold the hulking out incident against him. He also hadn't said a single word to her, so there wasn't much to fuel her continued anger. The rest of them, however, there was plenty for her to focus on. With Steve, she could also add the fact that he thought it was normal and decent to do anything before 10 am. That actually might be the worst of all.

She eyed him again, mouth pursed. He looked back at her and she immediately plastered a neutral look on her face.

"Most of the time," He paused when one of the cleaners noticed them by the tower entrance. "Good morning."

"I wish it could be better." The man smiled at them both.

They shook hands and Avery was left wondering if she was the only sane person awake, or if everyone else was too smart to believe Steve when he said he just wanted to go to Brooklyn. "We'd like to help out."

"You two work for Stark?"

"No," Steve said without further explanation, glancing down at the giant 'S' on the ground next to them. The bottom was crumpled where it hit the ground, leaving behind a large cracked divet in the concrete sidewalk.

"Funny. I didn't think it was a residential building." The man eyed Steve carefully, looking him up and down, before he glanced over at Avery, barely giving her a second look. His gaze settled back on Steve and he narrowed his eyes, staring him down until a look of recognition lit up his face. "Oh my god, you're Captain America." Apparently, this was a common reaction for grown men. The other guy, the one that inadvertently facilitated her fortuitous reunion with Peter the day before, had the same kind of reaction to Spider-Man. She couldn't decide if it was charming or very weird. Maybe a little bit of both. "Can I get a picture? Adam, get your ass over here! It's Captain America!"

Steve rubbed the back of his neck and waited until the man, who shouted at his friend again in the meantime, got frustrated and went to get him himself. Avery sidled up beside him and smirked, watching the man gesticulate wildly to Adam, a look of pure elation on his face. "Does that happen often?"

"More than you think," Steve said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "It hasn't happened since I woke up though."

The man dragged Adam over, fumbling in his pocket to grab his phone as he stared at Steve with wide, awestruck eyes. His hands shook, causing Adam to elbow him. "Seriously, my dad and grandpa are never going to believe me."

"Be cool, Carl," Adam hissed at him, causing a beat red color to rise up on his friends face.

"Hi," Avery cut across Carl before he worked himself up into an over-excited frenzy. "Do you want me to take the picture?"

"You're so hot. Even with all that crap on your face."

That crap happened to be a bandage on her forehead and a bit of ointment meant to reduce swelling on the other miscellaneous cuts and bruises. Avery glowered at him, considering retracting her offer for a moment before she decided that it wasn't worth it. "Most women prefer beautiful to hot," She said tersely, glancing over at Steve. He looked confused for a moment, then annoyed when he saw the same emotion on Avery's face. The man didn't seem to realize he had said anything wrong, which wasn't unusual for most people affected by her powers, but it still irked her that he said it in the first place. She held out her hand for his phone, snapping her fingers when he took a second too long. "Do you want a funny one, or a super serious one?"

"This is the best day of my life," Carl breathed, moving to stand next to Steve. He made a thumbs up gesture and smiled like a kid in a candy store. Steve, dwarfing the man by a good eight inches, glanced down at him, still annoyed, before he looked back at Avery and made eye contact with her behind the phone.

"Slow your roll there, Carl." Avery lined up the phone and snapped a few pictures, trying to avoid laughing out loud at the look on Steve's face. "In case you missed it, we're less than 24 hours removed from an alien invasion where your fellow New Yorkers kind of died a little."

"She's not serious," Steve clarified, shooting Avery a look. She smiled behind the phone, snapping a few more pictures. "You're not serious, Avery."

"Of course not," She conceded, handing a now very confused looking Carl his phone back. "It would be extremely insensitive to make light of something like this."

"Um, okay." Carl took the phone back with an awkward look on his face. He turned back to Steve, the adoration still in full swing. Avery smirked again. "Thank you so much. It really is an honor to meet you," Carl said, grabbing Adam's shoulder so they could geek out without further embarrassing themselves in front of Steve. Carl paused and looked back, tucking his phone into his pocket. "We're all good here, but if you two want to help out over by Oscorp, they wouldn't say no."

Avery watched them go, feeling Steve's questioning gaze on the back of her neck. She sighed. "I promise I'll be nicer an hour from now."

"I don't expect that from you," He said, stepping in front of her, blocking her view with his arms crossed over his chest. "Do men talk like that to you often?"

Avery thought for a moment. As a general rule of thumb, it was one of the more innocent things people revealed. Still, she supposed it was a little uncomfortable to witness, if the person wasn't used to being around her. "Men and women."

"That's…"

"Obnoxious," Avery suggested, tucking her hands into her pockets.

"That's not the word I was thinking." Steve, seeming to sense that it wasn't something worth dwelling on to her, turned back to look at the street and changed the subject. "You were over by Oscorp yesterday. How bad is it?"

"Well, I didn't see much of the ground until after the Chitauri were already dead," She paused, biting her lip. "Actually, I'm not sure what happened to them. Did they die? They just kind of collapsed. I guess it doesn't matter. Anyway, Peter was a little one-track mind about getting to Oscorp, so I didn't see the damage until after. And then I was so focused on getting back to Stark Tower, I sort of zoned out. But from what I saw, when I wasn't too busy glaring at everything, was that it's pretty bad."

"Do you know where it is?"

"Not off the top of my head, but I'm sure we could figure it out." Avery smoothed out her borrowed shirt and looked up at him. "I think, though, it's the exact opposite direction of Brooklyn."

"Well, it's early and I'm not in a hurry."

She squinted against the rising sun shining off the buildings, eyeing him warily. He was up to something, she just didn't know what or why. When Steve asked her to go to Brooklyn with him she had assumed he had done so on a whim. But, she also got the impression that he was someone who didn't do much, if anything, based on last-minute decisions, so she was left wondering why he invited her in the first place. Those were thoughts better saved for later in the day, however, when she wasn't still half asleep and felt more comfortable asking Steve outright. He quirked his lips and they held eye contact, staring each other down until Avery sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright. Let's go."

The clothes she'd been given were a little on the tight side, but they were better than the god-awful S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform she wore for three days straight. They belonged to Tony's girlfriend, Pepper, something that made Avery feel a little weird, but were probably the most normal thing she'd come across in a long time, the patheticness of which did not escape her. The fact that her legs were finally seeing the sun was an added bonus she didn't expect.

They walked for about four blocks in silence, Avery one step behind Steve, even though neither of them had any idea of where they were going, before he stopped and looked around. The carnage was worse the further they got away from Stark Tower. She tried not to focus too long on the individual parts, on the bits that used to be pieces of the buildings as whole. It looked like a war zone. It'd been an alien invasion, but she thought calling it a battle was appropriate, considering. Of course, that made it all the worse for her to see people walking through the rubble, trying to piece things together for themselves and those around them. They looked horrified, shocked, scared, but still resolved, and she admired them for that.

She sped up to walk next to Steve. "So, I have a question." He looked down at her, raising his eyebrows as an indication for her to continue. "How exactly is it that you're still young?"

"It's a long story."

"Well, it's early, and I'm not in a hurry." She smirked and leaned forward, looking up and down the street. She thought Oscorp was only a few more blocks away, but she wasn't entirely certain, so she picked her way through the rubble on the street over to the other side, trying to remember if they were going to right way or not. It would probably be easier to just ask, rather than wandering aimlessly, but she thought it might do her good to see what it was really like in New York, keep her grounded in the reality of it all. Or something like that. She also didn't want to talk to anyone besides Steve at the moment, so she tried to make it seem like she knew what she was doing to avoid accidentally looking inviting to someone passing by.

"Super solider serum and being kept on ice."

"That's what you call a long story? I'm guessing a short story to you is a grunt." She stepped over a large chunk of building and caught him shaking his head out of the corner of her eye.

"I was too small to enlist after we entered the war. I tried over and over, but the army wasn't willing to take a hundred pound asthmatic."

"I guess if they only weighed half of you a hundred seems about right."

Steve laughed and Avery turned around, not entirely sure what was funny. She arched an eyebrow and looked him up and down significantly. "I haven't always been this size."

"That's part of the story, isn't it?"

"It is."

"Then I'll stop interrupting."

"There was scientist, Dr. Erskine, who saw how many times I tried to enlist and offered me an alternative. There was program that needed a subject and I needed a way to Europe," He paused, letting out a sigh. "I was desperate. I think I would have said yes to just about anything." Avery could tell that there was a great deal he was keeping close to the vest, but she didn't press him for anything beyond the information he volunteered. She took a step back so that they were next to each other and waited for him to continue, very conscious of keeping her powers pulled back just in case. It probably wouldn't be an ideal start to their friendship if he felt like she was forcing him to tell her. "Anyway, that's how I met Tony's father, Howard. He worked with Dr. Erskine and helped provide the power needed to activate the serum."

"So, they activated the serum and you swelled up like a well-toned balloon." She tried to imagine it, but she found she had a hard time seeing the before state in her mind. "What happened after that?"

Steve blushed instantly.

"You know, the specifics aren't important."

"Oh, that's okay."

"It's embarrassing."

"Well, now you have to tell me," Avery said, glancing up and down the sidewalk. A group of workers walked towards them, muttering to themselves and looking miserable. Avery grabbed Steve's arm and stepped out of their way, pulling him into a little café sitting area that was littered with overturned and crushed tables. A few of the workers turned to look at them as they passed, causing Avery to worry that Steve might be recognized again. One man looked at Steve for a few moments but didn't linger much past the polite head nod he gave them both before moving on.

"It involves tights." Avery could tell he was going to tell her just by the look on his face, so she leaned closer.

"The patriotic kind?"

"I wanted to serve right away, but Colonel Phillips wouldn't let me to go out into the field untested. So, I was given the option to help in a different way."

"I really like where this is going."

"I traveled around selling war bonds for the USO. They dubbed me Captain America, The Star Spangled Man, and I wore a uniform similar to what I was wearing yesterday."

"That had tights too, you know," Avery mentioned, earning a slightly derisive look from him. "Did you have backup dancers?"

"I did. I also got to sock Adolf Hitler in the jaw over 200 times."

Avery snorted, looking down at her feet. "Well, that's a resume booster if I ever heard one."

"It wasn't bad until they sent me to Italy in '43." He sat down on the metal railing that enclosed the café space and wrapped his hands around it. "The soldiers weren't as impressed with me." He stopped again, this time not showing any sign of wanting to fill in the blanks.

"That's Oscorp, just over there," Avery said, changing the subject. She sat down next to him on the railing and pointed up at honey-combed building looming tall above the others. "There aren't any tights involved, but I'll tell you half my story if you want to know. Fair trade, or whatever."

"I'll settle for you telling me what happened in Oscorp."

Avery turned to him and they held eye contact for a moment that seemed to stretch on forever. She felt dwarfed by him, guilted almost, into telling him the full story right then and there. She chewed on the inside of her lip and sighed, nodding. "I discovered I have another power."

"Golden wall."

"Tony told you," Avery accused, standing up, instantly bristling.

"No."

"Peter? I swear, I had one request for that little…"

"Avery, I overheard you and Tony. Nobody told me."

"Oh." Avery cleared her throat awkwardly. "Sorry for the brief dramatics." Steve smiled and she noticed he did so with only one side of his mouth. "Super soldier hearing?"

"It has its uses."

"It's not very honest," Avery mused.

"Neither is keeping something like this from your team. You should have told us yesterday. We can help you."

Her hands twitched.

"That's not fair," She said before she could stop herself. She bit her lip again, chewing on it until she realized that it might be better in the long-run if she just said her peace once and for all. She'd bottled up her feelings for months until she felt like she was going to explode. It probably wasn't fair for her to use Steve as the unintended receiver of all her anger, but she couldn't stop herself. Like a snowball gaining steam as it rolled down a hill, she knew she wouldn't be able to stop now that she had started. "Teammates are supposed to be supportive, Steve. All I've gotten from any of you so far is every possible variation of 'suck it up, kid', like there's no reason whatsoever why I might be having a little bit of a hard time."

"I didn't do that to you," He said, sounding genuinely perturbed by the idea.

"Look, I don't know you well enough to know whether you're just being nice, or if you actually care, but it doesn't matter. You signed up for this kind of crap the day you said yes to Dr. Erskine. I didn't." She made a point to look away from him so he wouldn't guilt her again. For some reason whenever they held eye contact for too long she started to feel like she was the one in the wrong. And she wasn't. She refused to allow herself to feel that way because she thought, if she did, she would wind up drinking the kool-aid that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been trying to shove down her throat for months. "I worked at a diner for about eight hours when I accidentally used my powers on Jane Foster and she told me about Thor. After that, it took S.H.I.E.L.D. approximately 34 minutes to find me at my motel and then another 34, I think, I was crying a lot at that point so it could have been way longer. Anyway, 34 minutes later they put me in a blacked out van and drove me to a facility outside Santa Fe, where three different interrogators grilled me about literally everything from my childhood to my opinion on the Yankees."

"They're terrible."

"The absolute worst. That's not the point, though. After that, Fury came in and told me that S.H.I.E.L.D. was basically the new majority share-holder of my soul and that I didn't really have a choice in the matter."

"I did..."

"I'm not done. Fast forward several months, one botched plane ride, at least four bad encounters with Natasha, two gods, an alien invasion, and some pretty uncomfortable revelations about who my mom was later, and I'm exactly where I started. S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't let me have control over a single thing about myself and now you guys are trying to do the same thing. I'm allowed to be upset. Without some quota, or some time limit. If it takes me six months, then none of you are going to say anything. If our positions were reversed I would respect the time you need."

She took a deep breath and sighed, finally looking over at him.

He was staring at her, sort of in the same way he had been when they first met, eyebrows furrowed. It didn't unnerve her nearly as much as it did this time around, but she still felt uncomfortable with how much it felt like he was looking straight through her, although not necessarily in a bad way. She shifted on her spot, moving back and forth on the balls of her feet as she waited for him to say something. Briefly, she worried that she might have offended him, although she pushed that thought away when she realized how good she felt being able to get even a small portion of her problems out in her open and on her terms.

She felt lighter, somehow. Freer, if that wasn't too melodramatic.

"I didn't know," He said after a moment, deep voice cutting across the silence that grew between them. "I read your file, but I guess it left a few things out."

"You know, that's another thing," She started, noticing the cautious look that sprang back up on his face. "I don't particularly like that all of you got to read that. But, I won't go down that road. That'll open up a whole new can of worms that I've been saving for a certain eye-patched director."

"I really am sorry," Steve said.

"So, anyway," She said awkwardly, looking away from him. She wasn't fishing for any apologies from him, and she certainly didn't want him to feel like she thought he was to blame for her problems or even tangentially related to all of them, but she supposed his response was normal. She had practically shouted at him. It occurred to her that she might have done the same thing to him that she had been eternally accusing him of. She had guilted him into saying sorry for something that he hadn't done. Her stomach churned and she looked down. "Thank you."

"You don't have to feel bad for speaking your mind. I'd rather you be honest than bottle it all up." His hand squeezed her shoulder briefly before he removed it. "We aren't the bad guys."

"Let's just get back to your morning plans of forced good samaritanism."

"Right." Steve stood up and moved out of the little café space, the little bubble of honesty between them bursting. She felt happier than she had when she woke up. Only marginally, of course, but it felt good to have the tightness in her chest show signs of lessening. She didn't dare broach the subject of what Thor told her, deciding that, at least, could wait for another day. She had formed a list in her mind and she put that last. She thought most people would consider that to be stupid, considering it, theoretically, was the most life-changing of all the things she needed to sort through. She didn't feel different, however, didn't have some sort of revelation about who she was as a person, so she forced it to the back of her mind in favor of coming to terms with the other things first.

It wasn't exactly the most functional way to deal with things, but it suited her and kept her from going insane, so she didn't try and change it. Plus, now that she had vented her frustrations to Steve, she only had to do the same with the others.

One down, seven to go.

* * *

Avery wiped the sweat off the back of her neck and stood up, stretching out the soreness in her back. She tossed the chunk of building into the trashcan and looked around at the area she had been working on. It still looked terrible. She sighed. The area that Steve was working on was almost twice as big and actually looked like someone had done something. She tried not to glower at him, but she couldn't stop it. When he turned to her, she had to recover quickly, forcing an impassive, if not passably pleasant, look on her face.

"Are you hungry?"

"Starving," Avery said, scrubbing her hands on the back of her shorts. Steve nodded and set the broom in his hand down, walking closer to her. "Where do you want to go? We could head over to Brooklyn, if that's still part of the plan." Avery liked the idea of getting away from the most concentrated damage. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since the day before, and even that had only been a few bites of cold shawarma that made her feel more sick than satisfied. "Pizza sounds good."

"I used to know a place." Steve got a thoughtful look on his face that quickly turned depressed. "It might not be there anymore, though."

"We could try and find it," She offered, not really sure what else to say. There wasn't really a stock, greeting card answer for someone who technically, at least in the way she saw it, counted as a time traveler. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to wake up one morning and find everything and everyone she ever knew was gone. She didn't say that of course. Whatever comradery had developed between her and Steve over the course of the last six hours of hard, manual labor would be lost if she did. "I think I'm actually wasting away, so we should go."

He nodded in agreement and folded his arms over his chest, scanning the area around them with a contemplative look on his face. "The subways aren't running today. I didn't count on that."

"Some of the other workers were complaining about that." She glanced down at her shoes, thankful, once again, that Pepper owned more than just heels. The shoes were a little big, but wearing three pairs of socks made up for it. "I was just pure luck that I managed to get us to Oscorp, so you're up."

"Brooklyn is my home. I can get us there, no problem."

"Oh."

"What?"

"I didn't know that you were from Brooklyn."

"Is that a problem?"

"No, it's just unexpected. I assumed you were more the farm boy type. You've got that vibe." She waved her hand out in front of her, mental image forming. "Brooklyn, though. Now that you say that, I can see it. I bet you logged in a lot of hours yelling at cabs and walking fast for literally no reason."

"That's funny, really."

"I'm gliding here!" Avery said, using her best possible New York accent. Steve wasn't impressed, or he didn't get the reference, which was probably the case. "Miss Cong…"

"Avery." They both turned around at the sound of the voice. Avery looked around at all the cleaners, confused by who had called her name. She didn't think she knew any of them that she was aware of. She relaxed, slightly, when she saw Gwen Stacy wave at her through the crowd. She smiled at one of the cleaners as she passed by her. Avery noticed she was wearing her lab coat, a new on that wasn't covered in Chitauri guts, and a nice dress paired with bright blue tennis shoes. "I didn't expect to see you over here again."

Avery had made it pretty clear to both her and Peter that Oscorp wasn't high up on her list of places to return to, just behind the helicarrier and any flavor of underground research facility.

"Hi, Gwen," Avery greeted. "Is Oscorp open today?"

Avery hadn't noticed any workers going in or out in over six hours, but she supposed she could have missed that when she was busy cleaning.

"No, only senior management and researchers with time sensitive experiments came in today." Gwen looked over at Steve. "Hi, I'm Gwen Stacy."

"Steve Rogers," Steve said, shaking her hand. "You were in Oscorp with Avery?"

"Yes. Speaking of, Avery I need to talk to you in private. Once you guys are done here, how about you meet me at Peter's so we can talk about a few things."

"Okay," She paused, remembering that Peter had said something the day before about his aunt not knowing he was Spider-Man. It might have just been her stomach talking, but the thought of a nice home cooked meal was enough for her to agree to just about anything at the moment. "What about his aunt? Wouldn't she find a little strange that Captain America was in her house?"

"Oh no, you saved my life yesterday. I'm inviting you over to say thank you and my mom would freak out if she knew where I was. I was supposed to be at the library." Gwen smiled, a mischievous look on her face. "At least, that's what I'll be telling Aunt May. Besides, she loves having guests over." Gwen glanced at her watch, eyes widening. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small notepad and jotted something down. "This is the address. I have to go, but I'll see you guys around 6?"

"Sure," Avery agreed, taking the piece of paper. Gwen smiled at them both again and walked down the cluttered street, waving over her shoulder before she turned the corner, leaving her standing alone with Steve once again. She could practically sense Steve's onslaught of questions coming. "I'll explain over lunch. But I literally am starving, so let's go."

* * *

Avery cleared her throat and knocked on the door, fully regretting her decision to accept Gwen's invitation. It directly conflicted with her plan of avoiding Peter Parker, but Steve seemed to think it was a good idea and arguing with him wasn't how she wanted to end what she thought had been a rather productive day in the friend-making department. She knocked again and stepped back, folding her arms over her chest as she waited for someone to open the door.

It had taken them longer than it should have to find a suitable pizza place in Brooklyn that was open, and even longer for them to agree on a pizza topping that they both liked. Steve was a fan of just cheese and Avery wanted pineapples and anchovies. In the end they ordered half cheese, half pepperoni. Apparently, modern food was a bit rich for him, so he mostly stuck to the cheese size of the extra-large pizza and picked off the pepperoni save for a few pieces. Even still, several hours after they finished their food and he had time to walk it off, he looked slightly queasy. She'd warned him about eating that eighth slice, but he mumbled something about his metabolism and kept eating.

Explaining to him the events in Oscorp had been easier than she thought. In reality, the situation wasn't nearly as bad as she had built it up to be in her mind, but merely a byproduct, a spilling over effect, of the things that had led up to it. Searching the floors one by one had been tedious, but effective, as they'd come across more people than Avery could count who needed help getting out. They hadn't even run into anymore Chitauri until higher up, closer to the genetics lab, but there were only three. No, the problem wasn't with the people or with the aliens or even Oscorp at all, but with Peter.

She didn't blame him for being singularly focused on Gwen once they found her in the genetics lab. He wanted to stay with her and clear that floor, leaving Avery to evacuate the floors below on her own.

Avery was annoyed at the time, considering how she viewed herself as liable to create another wall, possibly bigger and deadlier, at any moment, but in retrospect, there were a lot bigger things to be upset about other than Peter Parker wanting to make sure his girlfriend was okay. Even as she thought about her reaction yesterday in her mind, it made her sound like such a self-centered shrew that she cringed.

"We could just go back to the tower," She mused. She pictured herself holed up in her room with something deep fried, a comfy pair of pants, and a movie. The image evaporated when she heard the knob turn, locking her in to at least some sort of interaction with Peter, his aunt, and Gwen. "Never mind."

She really needed to work on her people skills.

"Avery, Steve, hi." Gwen opened the door with a large smile on her face and Avery immediately felt like she needed to smile as well. "Come in. Aunt May is just setting up the table."

"Thanks for inviting us, Gwen," Steve said, much better at remembering his manners than Avery.

"Yea, thanks."

Gwen pulled the door shut slightly, blocking the crack in the door with her body, a nervous look suddenly on her face. "Remember, I said I needed to talk to you in private. I need your help with something, both of you."

"And this something would be?"

"Peter told me not to ask, but I couldn't think of anyone else. Plus I thought you two might have access to a few resources we don't."

"Seeing as how you're both high school students," Avery finished for her. Gwen inclined her head slightly, closing the door even more.

"I'm not technically supposed to know any of this, and I'll definitely lose my job if anyone finds out."

"Stop stalling, Gwen. You're making me nervous and it's supposed to be my day off from that."

"Six of the samples are missing."

"Gwen, for goodness sakes, close that door. It's too hot outside," A voice called from inside the house, causing Gwen to sigh and close her eyes. Avery leaned closer, ignoring the look of complete and utter confusion on Steve's face.

"Which ones? I thought you said they were all there."

"I only said it _looked_ like they were all there. I went back today to doub…"

"Gwen, did you hear me?" A wrinkly hand appeared on the edge of the door and pulled it open, forcing the younger blonde to move out of the way with a slightly off look on her face. Avery stared at her, trying not look like anything was bothering her as she forced her attention back on the other woman. "Oh, hello. Gwen told me she invited a few others for dinner. I'm May Parker, but you can call me Aunt May." She held out her hand for them to shake, eyes trailing over both of them. She looked at Steve the longest and Avery thought she saw the traces of a blush creep onto her cheeks.

"Steve Rogers, ma'am."

"Avery Gudrun."

"Gudrun?" Aunt May looked over at Avery, tearing her gaze away from Steve. "That's an interesting last name. What does it mean?"

"No idea."

"Well anyway, come in before we all melt. It's hotter than hell outside today." She stepped back to let them inside, fanning her hand over her face as she got another wave of heat wafting up from the street. Avery gratefully followed her inside, throwing a glance over her shoulder at Steve. "Peter!"

Something thudded upstairs and Avery involuntarily flinched. "Avery, can you help me set the table?" Gwen asked, touching her arm, fingers digging into her skin in a way that indicated she wouldn't really be able to say no.

"Do you need any help, Mrs. Parker?" Steve asked.

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

Avery watched Steve walk through the arched entrance into the kitchen before she rounded on Gwen, yanking her arm out of her hand so she could switch their positions and grab Gwen's arm. She pulled her over next to the small, worn in wooden table and out of earshot of Aunt May. She knew that Steve would probably be able to hear everything, considering his track record in that department, but she wasn't so sure that would be a bad thing. It would save her from having to explain it later, whatever _it _was.

"You said seven samples were missing?"

"I was able to catalog and account for every broken, corrupted, or degraded sample except for six. At first I thought they could have been mixed in with some of the others, but I tested them and, even when isolating the genetic samples, none of them showed up."

"Which ones?"

"Non-specific bear, bird, rat, scorpion, jackal, and octopus."

"That's the most random collection of animals ever."

"I know. It doesn't make sense. None of the storage cabinets, which are organized by order, were broken into. The only damage came from one getting knocked over, but all those samples were there, just broken. Someone went through and deliberately picked out these specific DNA samples."

"Why? Why would someone need bird DNA and carnivore? Yesterday, when we went to check on them, you said that it was for specific research purposes, like limb regrowth or immunization possibilities."

"That room has isolated samples for every known species on earth."

"But if its for research, why would bear DNA be useful? They're mammals. Shouldn't they be basically the same as us?"

"Every animal has a unique genetic code that has potential. Oscorp tried to code each one while we had the funding. I don't know, though. That's why I'm coming to you," Gwen paused, leaning a bit closer to her, buggy eyes going even wider. "I can't go to somebody at Oscorp with my questions."

"Were you even supposed to be in there in the first place?"

"I'm a senior research officer. I have access."

"Gwen, you're like 18 years old."

"I'm advanced," Gwen said, shrugging her shoulders as if the information wasn't something worth lingering on. Avery, however, wanted to linger.

"That's seriously impressive, Gwen." As Natasha had oh-so-elegantly pointed out the day before, Avery hadn't accomplished anything or impacted anyone in 22 years. She didn't think Natasha intended for it to be so harsh, but the message had niggled its way into her brain and she hadn't realized it until she was standing in front of the much younger, and much more accomplished Gwen Stacy. "What are you going to do after you graduate?"

"Right now, I'm not really sure. I'll work at Oscorp through the summer and take classes at State in the fall. There is a program at Oxford that interests me, but I missed the fall deadline so I'll have to reapply for the spring."

"Wow," Avery didn't have much else to say. She assumed Gwen got told all the time how impressive it was. Still, there the desire to gush just a little bit bubbled up and she had to force it down just so she wouldn't make Gwen feel uncomfortable. "Why did you think I could help you? After yesterday, I wouldn't trust myself with a pack of peanuts, let alone corporate espionage."

"A pack of peanuts?"

"Do you know how easy it is to choke on those things? I could start to hyperventilate, inhale a peanut, get it lodged in my windpipe and go out in the least heroic way since George Washington died of a common cold."

"He didn't die of cold."

"See, I'm useless. I don't even know how George Washington died. What king of American am I?"

"Well, a cold was involved but…"

"I'm not even an American technically. Do aliens qualify for citizenship?"

"What?"

Avery froze. She turned away and busied herself, rather comically, with setting the five places at the table. She paid little mind to the placement of the forks and knives, tossing them haphazardly onto the napkins Gwen set out. Gwen followed along behind her, straightening everything up, being very respectful not to say anything. There was the possibility that Gwen thought she was talking about being born in a different country, but she severely doubted it.

"Avery, what are you doing here?"

"Peter, I forgot to tell you. Avery and one of her teammates came over for dinner."

"Why?" Peter asked, leaning against the wall with a suspicious look on his face. He didn't seem particularly enthused to see her, something she tried not to be too offended about, and eyed her like he was waiting for something bad to happen. She realized that it was probably a reasonable reaction, but she hadn't had an incident all day, or after the initial one the day before, so she didn't think being so suspicious of her was necessarily warranted. "Which teammate?"

"Oh, you must be Peter." Steve walked into the small dining room, wiping his hands on a towel. "Stark speaks highly of you and I heard you had Avery's back yesterday. I'm Steve, it's nice to meet you."

A rather high pitched squeak escaped Peter's mouth as soon as he saw him and Avery had to fight the urge to laugh out loud. Gwen elbowed him. "I'm sorry. Captain America is standing in my dining room. I wasn't expecting that."

"This table's not set. Steven, I thought you were going to whip these ladies into shape."

Avery could only imagine what Tony have to say about that little gem. As it was, she was having a hard time getting the picture out of her head. She smirked and shook her head, focusing back on Peter. "Captain America is in my dining room."

"Yes, and you're being very rude. Go wash up. Avery, come help me serve the plates. Steven, you set the table since the ladies were too busy gossiping."

Peter turned on his heels and headed for the stairs, the same starstruck look still on his face. As he passed, Avery heard him mutter, "Captain America is setting the table. In my house."

Leaving Steve to his assigned task, Avery followed Aunt May into the kitchen.

* * *

Avery sat down next to Peter and pulled her legs up underneath her. The porch swing moved under her weight, but Peter kept the rhythm steady with his foot on the ground. The sun was just beginning to set, giving the back yard an orange glow that calmed Avery instantly. She let her head fall back against the swing as she closed her eyes, feeling her body relaxing in time with the constant movement of the swing.

"I'm sorry for springing Captain America on your Aunt," Avery said after a moment, cracking open one eye to look at him.

"This is probably the best night of her life, to be honest." Peter smiled, looking down at his lap. "I didn't expect to see you," He paused and turned to look at her, rocking the swing as he repositioned himself. "Especially after yesterday."

"I'll admit that I might have been a little upset yesterday," Avery said, turning to mirror his position. She rested her arm on the top of the swing and pressed her cheek against her open palm. Tapping her fingers on the side of her face, she stared at him, thinking over what she was going to say next. "I also might have called you a snitch."

"What?"

"You told Tony about my power."

"I did," He admitted, not seeming to regret it in the slightest. "But, I only did it because somebody besides me needed to know."

"I was going to tell them."

"No, you weren't." Peter shook his head, giving her a knowing look. She tapped her fingers faster. He glanced back in the house, eyes scanning the open window for a moment before he scooted closer, gesturing for her to lean closer. "I would think that you'd be more used to this kind of thing."

"Interesting assumption," She lowered her voice when she heard Gwen and Aunt May move closer to the window. They laughed at something Steve said and she couldn't help but look over her shoulder and smile at the three of them. Steve was by the sink, washing dishes while Gwen scooped the taco meat on the stove into a tupperware. Aunt May leaned against the wall, holding her cup of tea to her chest. It was obnoxiously peaceful.

She turned back to Peter and shifted once again, crossing and uncrossing her arms as she sunk lower in her spot.

"Did you believe in aliens before yesterday?"

"Of course," Peter scoffed, rocking them back and forth with his feet. "Statistically speaking, there are way too many worlds that could sustain life for use to be the only ones."

"I bet that guy on history channel must be having a field day right now."

Peter laughed quietly and pushed the swing faster, bumping it back against the backside of the house. "So what do you think caused your spontaneous level up?"

"Well, if I had to hazard a guess, it would probably be related to the fact that my mom was Thor's aunt. That gig apparently comes with the ability to create golden walls."

"And I thought spider powers were difficult."

"Mazel tov." Avery recognized the bitterness creeping back into her voice so she quickly changed the subject, looking out at the small yard. "So, believe it or not, but me and Steve didn't come over here just to send you and your aunt into a tizzy."

"It wasn't a tizzy."

"You tizzied," She said, watching as a large bug landed on railing of the porch. It sat for a moment, fat and unaware of her watching it, before it buzzed away. "That's okay, though. The only person I'll tell is Tony."

"I guess Gwen told you what she found today."

"She did. As much as I think I'm going to hate myself for it later, I'll do what I can to help."

"Good. I don't want her to do anything else."

"What?" Avery turned to look at him.

"It's too dangerous. We don't know who took the samples or for what reason. This could be way above our paygrade and I don't want her getting mixed up in any of it."

"Everything's above your paygrade. You're in high school."

"Like you're so much older."

"I'll have you know, I'm currently sputtering towards 23. Nice and old."

"It doesn't matter. I don't want Gwen involved anymore."

"She's the only reason we know about this," Avery pointed out as delicately as possible. "Besides, it could be nothing. Or it could be way out of our league."

"It isn't."

"You don't know that."

"Avery, I'm asking you not to involve my girlfriend in this. Please, she isn't like us."

Avery massaged the bridge of her nose, letting out a small sigh. "Okay."

"Thank you."

"For the record, though, I think the whole 'us' thing could be broadened to include her. I mean, like I said, she's the one who noticed the samples that were missing. And she's got access to Oscorp employee files and visitors that we would have to steal."

"So let's steal them."

"You would rather risk incarceration than let Gwen help us with something that could turn out to be a simple catalog error?"

"I would," Peter said, staring her down determination. "I'm not letting the same thing happen to her that happened to her dad."

"We aren't breaking into Oscorp to steal employment records, Peter."

"Why not? Those DNA samples aren't just essence of bear for the sake of scientific study. They can be weaponized, synthesized with human genetics. Do you want a grizzly bear hybrid running around New York?"

"That's what the lizard was that attacked you," Avery said, finally putting the pieces together. "Shit."

"You think?"

"Son of bitch."

"What?"

"I just wanted one day. One day where everything didn't go to hell. But no, that's way too much to ask," She said, standing up with a sour expression on her face. "Me and Steve have to go."

"Where?"

"Stark Tower. Apparently, S.H.I.E.L.D. brainwashed me into caring about the greater good or some bull like that without me even realizing it, so now I have to see if there's a way to get those files that don't involve Gwen or me and you burglarizing the Osborns."

"I'll come by tomorrow."

"You have school."

"It's cancelled for the rest of the week," Peter said, following her as she moved back towards the house. "Avery, wait."

"What?"

"I know you have issues with this kind of thing, so this must be a pretty big deal for you to agree to help, but I want you to know that I appreciate it."

"No problem," She gripped the door knob tightly in her hand, staring up at him as she tried to decipher the unreadable look on his face.

"After what happened with Gwen's dad, I just," He paused, shaking his head and looking down at his feet. "Thank you. For what you did yesterday with helping me find Gwen and doing this now. You've probably got a lot more going on than you're willing to tell me, with S.H.I.E.L.D. or whatever they're calling themselves, bu…"

"Peter, don't strain yourself." Avery reached out and touched his arm, making sure to not touch his skin. "You asked. That's more than S.H.I.E.L.D. ever did. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yea, tomorrow."

She couldn't quite explain why she was willing to help Peter and Gwen. There was a feeling, deep in her gut, that she wouldn't really be able to say no to Peter. Especially not when he made his concern for Gwen inescapably clear. But even without that, there was no reason why she should he willing to help him. Avery had basically put a moratorium on anything that involved secret agencies, plots, genetic anomalies, or anything else equally weird, until she figured out her own situation with S.H.I.E.L.D.. And yet there she was, jumping into something like the last few months of her life hadn't even happened.

She was quickly beginning to realize, however, that as much as she tried to understand, logic just wasn't something that applied to her life anymore, if it ever did in the first place. She thought, perhaps, the sooner she accepted that, the sooner she stopped trying to find the reason behind everything, the faster she would be able to make it through her list and begin to move on with her life.

She had already checked Steve, and now Peter, off her list of people and begun to process Oscorp and the rest of Chitauri invasion. It wasn't bad for a day that started out in the worst way imaginable, to her at least, but she knew she would need to pick something else to deal with.

Logically, she should start small and move her way up.

She wasn't going to do that, however.

No.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was next.

* * *

**Sinister Six! **

**So, just a quick clarification about this group of villains. In the comics, there are about a million incarnations of this group, with varying memberships and levels of evil-doing. Since they were hinted at in the end of ASM2, I thought it would be super fun to see how I could mold them to fit the MCU. Thus how I settled on them being more animal-like than they normally are in the comics. I know this might bother some hardcore Spidey fans, but I figured it wouldn't be too much of a sin if the process of how I created them was clear from the very beginning. And before anyone asks, Hydra is totes involved as well. In case you couldn't tell, I'm pumped, lol. **

**Anyway, I'm really happy that people are responding so well to this story and Avery as a character. I love that you guys pick up on how the Avengers aren't respecting her at the moment. I think it's an important starting point for the relationship between all of them to build going forward if there's a lot of disconnect about what each member needs emotionally, mentally, and physically in the beginning. To me, there wouldn't be an intrinsic understand straight away because they are all so different. It's going to take her spelling it out, like she did with Steve, for them to understand that she isn't like them. I do think the fact that Peter pointed out that she is at least similar to them when contrasted with Gwen is also important in moving her back towards being a much more willing team member in the future. **

**REVIEW! I'm so jazzed about this story, if you can't tell ;), and I love to hear what you think. I also respond to PMs, so if you having any burning questions let me know! **


	19. Chapter 19

_-Chapter Nineteen-_

* * *

Tony knew he needed to go to bed when he couldn't taste the whiskey in his glass anymore and the sun started showing signs of coming up from behind the buildings. Loss of taste always resulted in spectacularly poor decision making in the past, two weeks ago by his count, and he considered himself to be beyond that. He took a sip, hoping that the familiar smoke would return, but found himself disappointed once again. He downed the rest of the glass in a single gulp and set it down on the workbench, turning back to the displayed armor skeleton in the middle of the lab with a scowl on his face.

"J, overlay the new weapons system," Tony said, recognizing the exhaustion in his own voice and ignoring it with enthusiasm. He hadn't slept in two days, but that wasn't anything new for him. What was new, however, were the nightmares that were keeping him awake as opposed to the usual cacophony of never-ending, never-finished thoughts. He tended to rabbit trail, to bounce around from one thing to another as he tried to drift off to sleep until he either gave up and went to work on something until Pepper noticed, or sought comfort in his older, although still effective methods of shutting off his brain for a few hours.

Tonight he had tried both.

Clearly, it hadn't worked worth shit.

"_The current dimensions will not support the new designs, sir."_

Tony looked down at MK VIII, thinking it over for half a moment. "Make it bigger."

"_The fabrication will take time_."

Tony reached for his glass, forgetting that he'd finished it a few moments before, and held it in front of his face with disappointment. He sighed and stood up, waving his hand to shut down everything else as he walked towards the door, holding the glass loosely in his hand. "Let me know when it's finished."

"_Of course_."

He made special note not to look out the large window as he made his way, begrudgingly, towards the fully stocked bar downstairs. Or at least, he assumed it was still fully stocked. The rest of them could have descended on it like locusts for all he knew. Well, not Rogers. Even though his metabolism kept him from getting drunk, he doubted he was the kind to even try. He mentally added it to the list of things that confused him about why his dad liked the bland piece of human toast in the first place and slowed down.

He stopped altogether when he heard the sound of the TV. He didn't want to talk to people.

"_So far the loss of life is catastrophic. Initial reports have the death toll in the low thousands but it is expected to rise as more information becomes available…."_

Whoever it was, they certainly could have picked something a little more uplifting to watch. He could rule out Thor based on the simple fact that he didn't know how to work a TV alone. Natasha hadn't come back to the tower, neither had Barton for that matter. Bruce was currently working on getting a full night's sleep, claiming it helped keep control, leaving only Avery or Rogers as possible fellow insomniacs.

Taking his sweet time, he rounded the corner into the sitting area, eyes scanning the couch to see who was dysfunctional enough to still be awake. He recognized the back of Avery's blonde head pressed against the arm of the couch at an odd angle, hair spilling out over the side like a long sheet of curls that brushed the ground. Her arm was thrown over the top and, for a moment, Tony thought she had fallen asleep like that. He almost envied her. But then he saw her shift and sit up and he went right back to wondering why she was still awake and messing up his plans to drink in peace. She massaged her neck with one hand and dug around in the cushions with the other, muttering to herself when she couldn't find what she was looking for. After a moment she cursed out loud, causing him to smirk at her colorful choice in language.

Never one to miss and opportunity, Tony snuck forward slightly when he saw her stand up and throw her blanket aside, mumbling louder, keeping her back to him as she kept searching. He cupped his hand around his mouth and crept closer behind her. He waited until just the right moment before he shouted her name.

Avery yelped and whirled around, lobbing a pillow at him just hard enough for it to smack him in the stomach and fall to the floor with a thud.

"Don't sneak up on me," She complained, rubbing the back of her neck with a twitchy hand.

"Did I give you a fright?"

"Shut up," Avery said, turning back around to look at the TV with an annoyed look on her face. She bent down over the couch and dug around inside the cushions once again, bending down at the waist so she could shove her arm all the way inside until a triumphant look crossed her features. She produced the slender remote that went to the TV, a basically archaic model that Tony had been meaning to upgrade ever since he and Pepper moved in, and muted the anchor. Tony glanced at the news and eyed her skeptically, finding her selection more than a little odd.

"You really dig being depressed, don't you?" Tony asked and walked over to the bar, deciding on a glass of water now that he knew he wasn't alone. "Why are you watching that? There's probably a million things on, I mean literally anything else would be better."

"Food Network started trying to get me to buy a Shake Weight so I had to abandon ship before I started to think it would make a good Christmas gift for you all."

"And this is what you settled on?"

"I find her voice soothing," Avery defended, smiling in a secretive way that made it sound more like an inside joke than anything else.

"So, why are you awake?" Tony asked, bending down to grab a chilled bottle of water from the mini fridge. He surveyed the other contents of the fridge, eyes sliding over to the vodka out of habit. There were significantly less than before, causing him to glance over the bar at Avery with raised eyebrows. She avoided his questioning gaze as she walked over to pick up the pillow, seeming to know exactly what he was thinking. Maybe she did. She was annoyingly mum about her powers and it wouldn't surprise him if she was hiding mind-reading as well as the odd ability to build gold walls and other equally weird things. "You thirsty?"

"Water, please."

She dropped the pillow on the couch and walked over to the nearest barstool, hopping up without an ounce of discernable grace. She grunted, steadying herself on the bar as the stool wobbled beneath her, teetering back and forth as she tried to balance herself. He took the time to look at her, taking in her appearance with a calculating gaze. She didn't exactly look Asgardian, if there was such a thing as a universal identifier, but she didn't exactly look normal either. When he tried to determine what exactly it was, he drew a blank.

It irked him.

While he was watching she pulled her hair off her slender neck, wrestling with it until she gave up and settled on throwing it over one shoulder, exposing her face even more.

"You look terrible," Tony observed plainly, gesturing to her general puffiness and pale skin.

"You don't look so hot yourself." She pointed to the large bruise on his eye and smiled. "I know, I know. You flew a nuke into space." Tony, who considered himself a connoisseur of all forms of mockery, smirked and passed a bottle of water to her, not bothering to cover up the fact that he was observing her, cataloging the minor details he noticed. She didn't seem to mind, or she was too tired to care, and took the water with a murmured thanks. "Why are you up?"

"You first."

"I can't sleep." She sounded like the idea depressed her. Her head drooped slightly and she rested her chin on the bottle cap, but she held eye contact with him. "I tried, but after laying there for three hours I figured I might have better luck in front of the TV. Your turn."

"I have a well-documented case of insomnia." JARVIS probably didn't count as a legitimate source of documentation for that kind of thing, but she didn't need to know the specifics. She eyed him suspiciously with her large eyes, the amber color looking darker than he'd seen them before.

He probably should have known something was up with her from the eyes alone. Then again, he hadn't exactly been paying attention that closely until now.

"I didn't think this would be a problem," She admitted, pressing her lips against the top of the bottle. "God, I'm so tired."

"What?"

"Not being able to sleep." She looked up at him and he could see her desire to have a heart to heart brimming. Tony instantly felt uncomfortable. Pepper never needed to talk about her emotions beyond telling him that he had done something wrong or insensitive. And even that was usually solved with a marathon round of sex. "When I had a bad day when I was in high school I used to sleep until I felt better and now I can't even do that."

"That's called depression."

Avery blinked, brow furrowing at his lack of tact. "I guess you're right."

"Look, I'm not the person for this."

"I know. That just slipped out. My filters went away after about one." She twisted open the water and took a large glug before clearing her throat. "Anyway, I don't know if you've heard the news, but I've decided to quit S.H.I.E.L.D.."

She said it like she had been telling it to herself over and over again for hours, just so when she said it out loud it wouldn't be so hard. Tony opened his own water, watching her carefully as she took a deep breath and nodded, confirming it. "Is that supposed to surprise me?" Avery looked at him questioningly, eyes demanding an explanation. "I expected this to happen on the helicarrier."

"Why?"

"You had crazy eyes." Her instant blush was even more pronounced on her pale face. "A little. It wasn't bad."

"I've been working on a couple ideas about how to do it." There was something about her voice that bordered on hesitant and he normally would leave it at that. His interest was piqued, however, so he rummaged around under the bar and grabbed the stash of cookies Pepper kept under there and set them in front of her, pushing them closer plyingly.

"What do you have so far?"

"Have you watched any of the news?" She asked, swiveling on her barstool to point at the muted anchor. He peered around her, rolling his eyes when he saw his own picture flash across the screen. She turned the sound on when a picture of Thor came up after his own, waving her hand to shush him, even though he wasn't going to say anything.

"_Reports of the Norse god, Thor, were first recorded last year in Puente Antiguo, New Mexico but remained largely unconfirmed until yesterday in New York. Witnesses report seeing a man sporting the same long hair and hammer normally associated with the god. Cell phone footage captured_ s_hows the man in question flying and summoning lightning in order to combat the invading alien force. Some sources are claiming that he is not even a god at all, but rather an alien from the planet, known as a realm, of Asgard. The State Department, Department of Defense, and Homeland Security have all declined to comment." _

Avery muted the TV again and turned back to look at him. "Do you think they have the same useless news on Asgard?"

"Why? Considering a trip?"

"To Asgard? Absolutely not."

Silence permeated between them. Tony hated it. Alternatively, he loved it because it meant he didn't have to try and talk her through her fifth emotional crisis of self. He had pushed down enough of his own over the years, sort of like he had with just about everything else, that he could recognize the signs bubbling up to the surface written clearly all over her face. She looked through the variety of cookies in front of her, seemingly unable to decide for a moment before she took one of each, stacking them one on top of the other in different combinations. She handed him a snickerdoodle paired with a sand tart. She was deflecting plain as day and he decided he wasn't going to let her get away with it entirely.

"You have to wonder a little bit," He probed as he ate the odd combination, expecting it to be an assault on all things culinary.

"I guess." Avery was visibly uncomfortable. "Mostly, I just have a lot of questions. Like, can I breathe in space? Is this actually what I look like, or do I have another form? One with scales?"

"Those are all things I would want to know."

"Right? But also, if I die, which is a distinct possibility hanging out with you guys, what happens?"

"I would want to know if you're in line for the throne," Tony mused, finishing off his cookies and grabbing another.

"What?" Tony looked up at her, hand hovering over the last chocolate chip. Her eyebrows knit together as she pursed her lips, processing for a moment before her mouth fell open in a comical 'o' shape and she shook her head vigorously. "No. Don't be dumb."

"Thor's a prince. Logically speaking, you might be a princes…"

"Don't." Avery looked slightly green and Tony couldn't help but smirk.

"Oh come on, you aren't at least a little curious?"

She mulled over the idea in her mind, face showing her thought process as clearly as if she was saying it out loud. "I'm not."

She was a liar, and a poor one at that. As much as he wanted to needle her, he made up his mind to play the long game, rather than bugging her until she shut down for good. "You were going to tell me your ideas," Tony reminded her.

"Right. So, I've been thinking of ways to effectively get Fury to actually listen to me when I tell him I'm done." She folded her right leg up underneath her and held out her hand with all five of her fingers. She wiggled them. "I have five and a half plans, but only two of them are realistic."

Tony walked around and sat in the other barstool, settling in for, what he assumed, was a long conversation. He took a long swig of his water and gestured for her to continue, feeling the annoying signs of sobering up at the edges of his brain. The dull throbbing that he'd managed to stave off creeped back, tempting him to reach over the bar and grab something else. He would have to settle for using her as a suitable distraction until the new armor frame finished fabricating.

Much to his horror.

"The first month I was there I thought about faking some sort of terrible illness that would get me hospitalized."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has doctors," Tony said, narrowing his eyes slightly. That was probably one of the stupidest escape plans he had ever heard, but he didn't say so, content to wait and see if she improved with her subsequent ideas.

"I know," She agreed, lowering her pinky finger. "After I realized that, I started to think about just sneaking out. I actually did when Loki showed up at the same facility I was at, but they caught me again." She lowered a second finger. That idea was marginally more well-thought out than the first, but smacked of the kind of desperation he expected from someone in her situation. "The third involved a lot of supplies I didn't have and me seducing an agent."

"Saucy."

"Thank you." Avery preened her hair dramatically and lowered her third finger. "The fourth is so stupid it didn't even make it past the initial planning phase."

"Come on, don't be selfish. I've got nothing else to do while I wait."

"No. I'm sure you didn't tell everybody all your failed Iron Man suit designs."

"Well, no. I am a genius. I have a reputation to maintain."

"Maybe I'll tell you later," Avery said, not yielding. "It's so dumb. So, so, so dumb."

"Fine. What's the last plan and a half?"

Avery popped her leg up and pressed her chin against her knee, avoiding eye contact with him the in the most awkward way imaginable, leading him to think that the last one, and a half apparently, was just as poorly planned as the first one. She started chewing on her lip nervously, fingers picking at the brim of her water bottle until she peeled off a thin little strip of plastic. She was making him antsy just looking at her.

"It's a little out of the blue," She said, tone hedging for unknown reasons. "And I totally understand if you say no. I don't want you to feel like I'm putting you on the spot or anything."

"You're stalling."

"You could hire me at Stark Industries." She pivoted on the stool and looked back at the TV anchor.

"Doing what exactly?" Tony was aware that Pepper would glare at him for not immediately saying yes to Avery, but he couldn't help but press her for a little more information. As far as he could tell there wasn't a connection between working for him and getting away from S.H.I.E.L.D..

"I have a theory." She sat up even more, back straight. "While I was watching I noticed that some of the people who still haven't been found in the rubble were listed with the companies they worked for. So, two men who worked out of the Hammer Industries office here haven't been found yet, and five people are missing from Oscorp. The same with the Pym Tech office."

"You want Stark Industries associated with your name."

"I'm going to tell Fury that I quit and I need that as leverage," She said, confidence visibly swelling when he didn't immediately shut her down. "If I disappear again and I work for a company as big as Stark Industries, somebody would notice. I wouldn't be the same anonymous serial job quitter, I'd be a Stark employee."

"It took you way less time to grow a pair than I thought it would," Tony admitted, taking another small sip. He couldn't help but feel a little impressed by the thought process, even if it wasn't fully fleshed out. "It's smart, I'll give you that."

"Is that a yes?"

"I didn't say that."

She deflated.

"It was jus…"

"I'm going to stop you right there." Tony leaned forward and set his water down. "I'll give you a job."

"You will?"

"Of course," Tony stood up, sensing that if he sat there any longer she would start talking about emotions or something else equally cringey for him. "Don't look so nervous, kid."

"I'm not nervous," She protested.

"You're peeling the plastic off that bottle."

She dropped her hands into her lap and straightened her neck. "See, cool as a cucumber."

"This is you not being nervous?" He gestured up and down, shaking his head in amusement as he closed the container of cookies. "Here's the deal. I don't know everything that happened with you and S.H.I.E.L.D. and I don't think I want to. But if you're telling me that you've wanted out for a while and they aren't letting you leave, then I'm going to help you."

"You don't know me."

"You're right. But from what I can tell, you've got a lot more potential than just spending your time fighting back and forth with some eye-patched bastard."

"I don't want you to do this because you feel bad for me." She gripped the side of the bar, mouth tightening up.

"I'm 100% doing this because I feel bad for you. You've had a pretty shitty couple of months and normally I wouldn't care, but you've got a bit more power than the average sad sack you meet walking down the street."

"I'll be a janitor, or I'll work in the mailroom. Seriously, whatever."

Tony made a big show of rolling his eyes just so she would know what he thought of that particular idea. He didn't quite know what it was about her, and he wasn't about to think over it for too long, but he liked her. "How about HR?"

"Doing what?"

"We'll figure it out."

She looked like she might cry for a moment, causing Tony to glance away from her out of sheer discomfort. When he didn't hear the tell-tale signs of her sucking in air and sniffling to herself, he turned his gaze on her again, raising his eyebrows at the pure happiness on her face. She curled her arms against her chest and smiled brightly, biting her lips to avoid looking too manic. It didn't exactly work. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little warmth in his chest knowing that he was able to help her.

Or it could have been heartburn.

Or whatever.

"Tony, I ca…"

"Let's not dwell on the mushy gushy shit, kid."

"_Sir, Captain Rogers is coming up_." Avery jumped at the sudden interruption of JARVIS.

"Thanks, J."

Tony had just enough time to make it look like he wasn't currently being held together with coffee, whiskey, and his own overly generous estimation about how long a human could stay awake without dying before the elevator dinged and Rogers stepped out, looking as chipper and annoying as ever. Tony felt himself tense up just as Avery relaxed, probably making them look very weird to the new addition. Whether because of their differences in posture, or the fact that it was abundantly clear neither of them had slept, he instantly looked confused.

"What's going on?"

"Secret meeting. You're not invited."

"Shut up, Tony. Hi, Steve."

"Did you sleep?" Rogers asked, walking across the room. He was dressed for a run, the idea of which literally repulsed Tony, and looked remarkably well-rested for a guy who just witnessed an alien invasion. The least he could do would be to at least pretend to be bothered. He noticed that Rogers' question was directed more at Avery than himself, so he sat back and let her answer, begrudgingly interested to see how it would all play out.

They'd spent the entire day together and hadn't come back looking like they wanted to kill each other, so Tony had to assume they at least tolerated each other. There was another two hours before the fabrication would be done and it wasn't like he was going to sleep any time soon. He had to keep his mind occupied somehow, meaning he was stuck watching the two of them as his thoughts away from the Chitauri now that it was clear Avery wasn't going to be talking much more about her constant problems of the secret government agency variety. He scowled, sitting back with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I tried," Avery said, making it sound like she actually had. Tony shot her a look when Rogers wasn't looking at him. She stuck her tongue out in response before continuing, "Are you going for a run?"

"I feel better when I'm keeping active," He paused, moving to lean against the bar. He looked over at Tony and they held eye contact for a moment until he finally looked back at Avery, a small smile on his face. "Do you want to come with me?"

"I, uh, no." She sounded like she was struggling not to offend him. "I actually should probably go to bed and try and at least get a little bit of sleep. Thanks, though."

Avery stood up, stretching out her arms and legs until her shoulders and hips popped. She pushed the bar stool in and turned back to Tony, holding her hands behind her back awkwardly.

Tony rolled his eyes again.

"Don't make it weird. We'll talk details later."

She smiled gratefully, clearly thankful that they didn't have to talk to it anymore. "Have a good run, Steve." With a small wave, she walked over to the elevator and pressed the down button.

"Avery, wait."

"Yeah?"

"You didn't tell me the last half idea."

Avery glanced back at the elevator as it opened behind her. She stared at it for a moment, holding her arm out to keep it from closing. Eventually she turned back to look at them both, smiling ever so slightly. "I was going to kill him."

Tony didn't even need to look at Rogers to know that the statement probably horrified. Tony, however, found it funny. She had said it was half a plan, so he highly doubted she was serious.

"Plan five works better," Tony said, causing her to nod in agreement.

"Plus, prison orange isn't my color." She waved again and stepped into the elevator, leaving them standing in a silence that was decidedly more pronounced than it'd been earlier.

"What was that about?" Rogers immediately asked, rounding on Tony.

"Unpucker, Captain, she was kidding," Tony scoffed. "Although it would be interesting to see her try. She might have a hidden talent for murder just waiting to burst forth and flourish. She's got enough anger for it."

"That's not funny."

"Don't you have a healthy, balanced lifestyle to maintain?"

"She told you."

"About?"

"Quitting S.H.I.E.L.D.," Rogers said, moving to take Avery's vacated seat.

"How much did she tell you?"

"That she wanted to leave. Has for a while."

Tony made a noncommittal noise at the back of his throat and chugged the rest of his water. He tossed the bottle in the trash, already thinking about getting back to his work now that his diversion had fled the scene. He assumed, if Rogers was getting ready to go on a run, it was close to six, if not a little after. Pepper would be getting up soon and she would expect him to be somewhat awake, so he thought about brewing a pot of coffee and mainlining it before she made it downstairs.

"I'd stay away from the tower if you want to avoid the paparazzi," Tony said closing his eyes and rubbing them. The other man didn't seem to understand what Tony meant, but he nodded and stood up. Tony felt himself relax when he showed signs of leaving, although he did his best to keep it from appearing on his face.

There was no part of him that wanted to have a long, drawn out conversation with Rogers, even if it involved gossiping about his teammates.

"Bye, Stark," Rogers said. He didn't say anything else as he went over to elevator.

Tony relaxed when he was gone, enjoying the silence more than he should.

He looked around the empty penthouse, knowing that it was too late to sleep, even if he wanted to. "How long until the fabrication finishes?"

"_1 hour, 23 minutes, sir." _Tony sighed and looked down at his feet, feeling antsy at the thought of having nothing to do for almost an hour and a half. He felt the panic begin to set it, the fear and uncertainty that had plagued his thoughts and dreams, keeping him awake for two days straight. He needed something else. _"Might I suggest a nap?"_

"You finish decrypting and sorting the S.H.I.E.L.D. files?" Tony asked, walking back to the stairs, an idea forming.

"_Yes. Is there a specific file you'd like to view?" _

"Pull up everything about Avery Gudrun," Tony said. "Put it in its own file."

"_Label?" _Tony smirked and walked over to the coffee pot in the corner of the lab, already thinking of the perfect name, although Avery would probably disagree.

"Pinocchio."

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**Nothing is harder to write than Tony Stark so his POV will probably not happen again for a while until I get a better grasp on it. Avery is not going to happy when she finds out Tony gave her a name. But hey, they bonded over not handling their shit very well. **

**Someone asked if this story will include Winter Solider. I have plans all the way through Infinity War, so yes. It'll take forever and a day to get there, lol, but I have it outlined through Civil War (and I think what I have planned will emotionally destroy us all) so I hope you guys stick with me. **

**Review!**


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